NaruSaku A winter without him
by Narusaku1357
Summary: Sequal to "Meet Cheyenne" Naruto and Jiraiya need to leave on a training trip and christmas is on its way. Sakura dosnt want him to leave, she wants to spend it with him. But while he and the Ero-sennin are gone. Konaha is attacked. Another sequal after.
1. Departure

The cold crisp air blew carrying the first snowflakes of the season with it. The last leaf fell as its stem gave way to the wind. The leaf Blew throughout the whole village of Konaha almost touching the ground but each time it got close, the wind picked it up once more. Finally the leaf reached the village's gates. It blew towards a couple facing each other in the gateway.

One of the figures standing in the gateway was a young man, about around the age of 17 or 18. He had Blond spiky hair with gorgeous blue eyes. There were 3 whisker like marks on both of his cheeks. He wore a black and orange jumpsuit and wore his headband around his forehead.

The other figure standing in front of him was a female Kinoichi around the same age. She had semi-long pink hair, almost touching her shoulders, and beautiful aqua-green eyes. She wore a red shirt with a circle like symbol indicating her family name. She also wore black shorts with a clip-on pink over-skirt. As the leaf flew on over, the two young ninja seemed to be talking about something that had the Kinoichi upset.

"You can't leave…" The girl mumbled as she looked at the ground. The boy smiled and lifted her head by the chin. "Don't worry Sakura-Chan; it will only be for a little while." She blinked as she let a few tears fall from her eyes. He continued. "It's not like I'm leaving for another 2 and half years." He let out a soft chuckle as Sakura still stared at him.

"But!" She took her head away from his hand and stepped back. "I wanted to spend Christmas with you! I wanted to go to the winter dance celebration with you too. But…." She looked at the ground for a moment as he looked at her worried. "But you being gone through all that…." She held her tears in as much as possible. "Makes me want to cry and scream!" She started crying as she couldn't hold it in any longer. He just stood there with his eyes invisible from the shadow caused by his hair. Her tears hit the ground one by one.

"Ill……*sniffle*…..ill miss you to mu—" She was interrupted by his hug. "NO!" She tried to shove away. But she couldn't escape from his embrace. "Naruto……..it's not fair."

Naruto rubbed the back of her head as she cried in his chest. She was crying which seemed like forever and nearly soaked the front of his jacket. His eyes quickly shot open as he realized something. "Sakura..." He then said "Hmm?" She pulled away and wiped the tears away from her eyes. "What is it?" She looked up at his smiling face. "I have something I want to give you." He started rummaging through his kunai pouch. She slightly smiled and leaned to the side in curiosity of what he could have for her. "Here" He pulled out a 3 ended kunai with writing on the handle.

"Eh? What is it?"She asked as he grabbed her hand and set in her grasp. "I want you to have it….it's a special kunai. Jiraiya gave it to me."The blonde said with a smile. She looked down at the Kunai with a confused look on her face. "What….What does it do?" She asked looking back up. "You will know at the right moment," He smiled and held out a thumbs up, like he always did ever since he was a little boy.

"Trust me Sakura-Chan!" She giggled at the sight of his thumbs up. She remembered the day he left to go rescue Sasuke with all the other boys. He had given her the same thumbs up and smile.

"Hey I see you're all ready to go."A voice came from the walkway to the right. Naruto and Sakura both looked in the direction of the voice. Jiraiya was walking towards them. "Ero-sannin. Heh, I almost forgot you were coming." Naruto said with a laugh as he rubbed the back of his head. "Then why would you be leaving?"The old sage then asked. "I….uh…ummm….heh….I don't know, hehehe"

Sakura couldn't help but laugh at her boyfriend's confusion towards his sensei. Naruto stopped laughing so nervously and looked at Sakura. "Well this is where I take off."He said to her. Sakura nearly fell into total breakdown after hearing his words. "I still want you to stay."She mumbled as she felt the tears coming back again. "I'm sorry but I have to go, if you need help use that kunai I gave you, it will give you all the help you need." She looked up at him as she let more tears fall down her cheeks. "Fi….fine. Just be back before Christmas….please." He smiled and nodded. "Okay, I will try don't you worry." He then said. Naruto then walked over to her and gave her a passionate kiss as his goodbye.

"Let's go Naruto! Stop dawdling and let's get a move on."Jiraiya said impatiently. Naruto turned his head and gave Jiraiya an evil look. The old man flinched and turned around to avoid the evil/irritated eyes of his young student. Sakura gripped the kunai and looked up to the blond boy's face. "I'll miss you." She mumbled. Naruto turned his head back around and smiled. "I'll miss you too." "LET'S GO!" Naruto turned around still annoyed by his sensei and started walking away from Sakura. He was still holding Sakura's hand and eventually their hands fell apart as he got further away.

"I LOVE YOU!" She called out to him as he walked away. He stopped and turned around. His smile never left his face. "I love you to, Sakura-Cahn." He said before he turned back around and started out the gates. She held the 3 ended kunai up to her chest, and couldn't help to Notice the keychain hanging off his pants.

It's been 2 months since the Cheyenne incident and he still had the keychain she had given to him. He hated her with all his heart for doing such a horrible thing to him, but in a way he still missed her just as much. Sakura always looked at that keychain only to see the horrible memories of Cheyenne's time with them, no matter how hard she tried to think positive of her……and yet Naruto was able to remember the good times easier than ever. She watched Naruto and Jiraiya disappear into the distance and looked at the ground once more, "I miss him already…."

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Naruto and Jiraiya were both jumping through the trees on their way to the hot springs they always go to on a trip like this. "Ero-sennin?" Naruto mumbled from behind. Jiraiya looked behind him to hear what the boy had to say. But he never said anything he just stared at the ground as it passed by from below. Jiraiya raised an eyebrow. "What is it?" He asked. Naruto slowly looked up. "Never mind..." He grabbed hold of the keychain as they continued. Jiraiya noticed him grab hold of it and wondered if he was thinking about ….her….

"Naruto?"

"What?"

"Are you thinking about Cheyenne?"

Naruto's eyes twitched, as he hesitated to look up. But when he finally did, Jiraiya looked at his sad eyes and decided to leave her out of the subject. He sighed and turned his head back around. "Never mind Naruto, let's just keep going." The old man then mumbled. Naruto bit his bottom lip and looked back down as he reflected on Cheyenne's smiling face. But it all turned to ash in his mind as the memory of her evil laugh came to his thoughts. He closed his eyes as if he got punched in the chest.

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They soon arrived at the hot springs and got situated. Naruto opened the sliding door to the springs and slowly looked out with a cautious look on his face. 'I don't want to be with other people…' He stepped out of the room and looked around. No one. He sighed in relief. 'Thank god.' "OI NARUTO! IS IT A SPA FOR BOTH GIRLS AND BOYS?!"The poor boy grabbed his head in pain as the yell echoed passed. Naruto then turned around to see his sensei running towards him and the spa. "NO! For the last time Ero-sennin we've been here before!" Naruto yelled. He smacked his forehead as Jiraiya ran by and jumped in without thinking. All the water was splashed onto the young Uzumaki. Jiraiya lifted his head out of the water and looked at his soaked student.

He could tell Naruto was angry. "Um Naruto….why are you wet," He asked as Naruto turned around. He narrowed his eyes and started cracking his knuckles. "You haven't jumped in yet so why wou—" He interrupted himself when he realized an imaginary dark aura creeping around Naruto, the words DOOOOOM floated around his head as Naruto looked as if he was going to kill him. "Heh……heh, Naruto you should really cool your jets." And without another word Naruto pounced. "ERO-SENNIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU GOT MY CLOTHES WET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" The pervert's scream echoed throughout the mountains, as he was pummeled by his own student.


	2. The Plan

Months passed as Sakura waited for her love to return to the village. The village had changed during his absence. The village was now covered in snow and everyone was sledding down small slopes in the hilly part of the village. Sakura joined them along with Ino and Hinata almost every day but after a couple weeks went by she stopped going. Ino and Hinata always wondered why she stopped meeting them there, but eventually knew what her deal was. She missed Naruto, A LOT.

"I wonder if she's ok." The blue eyed girl said as she pushed the other down a hill. The other girl stopped at the bottom to look up to the blond. "I…I'm sure she's fine Ino-san." Ino was looking in the direction of Sakura's house. "Are you sure? I'm kinda worried, you know?" She said as she looked at the girl at the bottom of the hill. She had a worried look on her face. "Hinata, we should go check on her." The blonde then said. Hinata looked at Ino then in the direction of Sakura's house. "I…I don't know Ino-san, Sh….She might want to be alone."

"I don't care!"

Hinata jumped as Ino threw her fist into the air. "We are gonna take her out tonight and go PARTY!" Ino yelled. "Wha…What?" Hinata mumbled. Ino's smile stretched across her face as she turned to face her. "You heard me Hinata," She chuckled as she slid down the hill as if she was surfing. "Let's take her to a bar or maybe a dance club tonight."

"Do……Does Sakura-San even like to do those things?"

Ino leaned over and smiled in an evil way. "You never know…." She stood up strait and held up her pointer finger next to her face pointing to the sky, and closed her eyes. "She might, or might not," She opened her eyes and pointed in the direction of Sakura's house. "That's why we have to go ask."Hinata looked at Ino for a moment, then she finally agreed and they both left the hill together.

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Sakura sat on her bed staring at the ceiling, trying to think about Naruto. He's been gone so long; she had almost forgotten his face. The only thing she couldn't forget were his beautiful blue eyes. Every time she had trouble remembering his face she looked at the photo of them when they were 12. When Sasuke was still with them. It was tough for her to look at it since Sasuke was in the photo, but she managed to look at it anyway.

Sakura thought back to Naruto's departure......

"Just be back before Christmas…..please…"

"Okay, I will try don't you worry!"

Sakura smiled as she shed a tear to the memory."Tomorrow is Christmas eve..." She mumbled to herself. She glanced over to the window and set the picture down as she stood up. The pinkette then opened the window and let the cold air rush in. She inhaled a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then she realized Ino and Hinata at her door. Sakura had no idea why they were there but she closed the window and dashed out of the room as quickly as possible, nearly knocking the photo over.

Sakura dashed down the stairs as her mother opened the door. "Ino, Hinata, how nice it is to see you two," Sakura's mother said. "Do you want me to go get Saku—" "it's ok mother I'm right here." Sakura's mother turned around to see Sakura walking in her direction. "Oh! Ok" She turned back to the girls standing outside. "Here she is girls." Ms. Haruno walked back to the kitchen to finish cleaning.

"Hey Sakura, want to go hang out tonight?" The blonde girl asked. Sakura looked at Ino with a crazed look. "You want me to hang out with you, other than sledding?" She then asked. Hinata smiled as Ino stood there speechless. Sakura raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms in a playful way. "Well…..well….—" Well what Ino?" Ino rolled her eyes. "Well of course…I've been worried about you." She then said. Sakura was awe struck. "YOU!? Worried about ME?"

Ino was confused. "Well yea I'm always worried about you Sakura."She started. Sakura adjusted herself to listen. "I know it must be rough with Naruto being gone for so long but, but you gotta come have some fun with us. To let us know that you haven't….well you know…..Emotionally broke down yet." Sakura was surprised at Ino's words. "Really?" the pinkette asked. Ino looked at her and smiled sweetly. "Well yeah of course, that's what friends do right?"

Sakura looked at Ino for awhile, still soaking up the shocking words Ino had spoken. "Well."Sakura looked at the ground to give it some thought, while Ino and Hinata waited patiently outside the door. "OK!" Ino and Hinata's faces lit up. "REALLY!?" They both asked. Sakura nodded at a quick pace., then Ino looked as if she was gonna explode of joy. "GREAT WE WILL COME GET YOU AT 7 O'CLOCK AND WE WILL HEAD OUT!!!!!!!!!" She yelled as she grabbed Hinata's arm. Sakura laughed as Ino stormed off dragging Hinata along with her. "B….bye-bye Sakura-san."Hinata mumbled with a wave. Sakura finally stopped laughing and shut the door. She took a deep breath and let it out, as she slid down the door to the floor. "Its gonna be a long night."

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The village was glowing as the sun had set over the horizon. The snow looked almost bronze while the sky turned almost every color of the rainbow. The trees swayed in the soft wind, even if they had no leaves. Nearby one of the trees laid a snow covered shrub. 2 eyes emerged from the shrub. "So this is the leaf village…" A sly smile appeared on the feminine face. "Can't wait to destroy it."

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"HEY SAKURA! READY TO GO!?" Ino and Hinata asked as they stood at the door dressed in their going out clothes. Sakura looked at Ino. She was almost blue. "Ino? Aren't you cold?" She asked. "YES IM FREEZING MAH ASS OFF, NOW LET'S GET A MOVE ON!" Ino yelled as she reached inside and grabbed Sakura's arm. "WAIT!" Sakura yelped. Ino let go as she ran up the stairs. "I forgot something!" Ino looked at Hinata and the Hyuuga shrugged.

Sakura came back down the stairs putting something into her purse. "Sa….Sakura-san, what was that?" Hinata asked as she pointed to Sakura's purse. "Huh? Oh this?" Sakura pulled out the 3 ended kunai that Naruto gave to her before he left. "Ehh?" Ino looked at it with a puzzled look.

"What do you need that for?"

"I use it as a good luck charm." Sakura said as she held the kunai close. She smiled and put it back in the purse. "I never go anywhere without it." She looked back up to the girls. Ino was even bluer then before. Hinata looked at Ino. "I…Ino-san I told you to bring a jacket." She said. Ino looked at Hinata "No need Hi….hi….Hinata…..the bar is just over there. I'll be fi….fi….fi….fi….fi…FINE!"

Sakura shook her head and walked over to a closet. Ino and Hinata then looked at her as she pulled out a jacket. "Ino, it's snowing outside, take one of mine." She said as she handed Ino an extra jacket. Ino put the jacket on immediately after she had it in her possession.

"AHHH! THANKS SAKURA!" She sighed in relief and danced around in the middle of the road, as Sakura shut the door behind her. "Well let's go Ino." Ino stopped what she was doing and ran over to the other girls and they walked to the bar together.

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Meanwhile in the outskirts of the village, there was a group of people gathered in a circle "When do we attack?" one voice called out. "Yeah I'm real excited when do we, when do we?" another said."You all need to shut up!" The one standing yelled as she rubbed her temples. "We attack tomorrow, I already said, geez! You're all morons!"— "Hey that's not very nice Terra-senpai!"

The woman looked down to a young teenager. "Mona….I didn't mean you I swear." She knelt down and patted the young girls head. The girl looked up at her. "It sure sounded like you meant me." She mumbled. Terra stood up in confusion. The girl closed her eyes and huffed. "You said, 'you're ALL morons'." Terra rolled her eyes and turned back to the center of the circle.

"You all need to prepare your-self for this battle." Terra said as she started to walk around the circle. "Leaf shinobi are very powerful….In a way. My father is tracking that special stone that you all know of, am I right." She asked glancing at her miniature audience and they all nodded, even the pre-teen known as Mona.

"Good so we all know what our primary goal is?" – "OH! ME, ME, PICK ME, PICK ME!" Mona yelled as she raising a hand and was swinging it around as if she was in school. "….Yes Mona?" Terra grumbled. Mona put her hand down and took a deep breath. "FIND THE STONE AND DESTROY IT ALONG WITH THE VILLAGE, AND BRING A SAMPLE BACK TO YOUR FATHER TO ANALIZE!" She gasped for air after her nonstop answer. "Yes exactly. Kill anyone who gets in the way." She looked at a man next to Mona, and gave him an evil look. "But don't kill them unless they know anything about the stone." Terra turned back around so everybody could see her. "DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!"

"YES MA'AM!!"

"Good." She turned to look at the man next to Mona once more. He didn't budge, almost as if her evil eyes were never laid upon him. Terra knelt down to look him in the eyes. He only looked at the ground, as his fellow teammates watched in horror, as if she was about to kill their friend. "Gobi!" She yelled. He slowly looked up into her eyes. "You promise you'll ask about the stone before killing?" The curly haired woman then asked. He stared for a moment, and then his eyes drifted over to Mona.

Mona gave him the 'answer-her-god-damn-it' look. Gobi's eyes slowly drifted back to his leader. "Yes Ma'am." His voice was horse and dark. Anyone who looked at him could tell he was an experienced killer. " Good boy Gobi." Terra said smiling, and then she stood back up. "Make them tell you about the stone," She looked at Gobi then the group; "Then kill them." Mona's face lit up and she smiled in an almost Chibi way. "Alright then, we have lots of time till tomorrow, rest easy and get ready early in the morning." She started walking away.

"We will attack as soon as possible."

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Ino, Hinata and Sakura were sitting at a bar getting drinks and having funny conversations about all the boys they knew. Hinata of course didn't say much but Sakura and Ino were all talk. "YoU sHoUlD hAvE sEeN SAi ThE oThEr DaY!" Ino's cheeks were pink and her eyes drifted away as she spoke. "He WaS aLl LiKe ReAdInG hIs BoOkS aGaIn!" Sakura's cheeks were just the same but her eyes were a bit more focused. "Go On InO!"

Ino hiccupped. "I lIkE AsKeD hIm WhY hE wAs ReAdInG tHeM, bUt He dIdN't tElL Me!" Sakura just looked at her. Ino already had about a gazillion drinks, and well so did Sakura, but she'd never tell, SHHHHH! "InO….."Sakura mumbled. Ino smiled. "WhAt?" She asked. Sakura gave her a sly smile. "InO…..yOuR DrUUUUUnK!"

"HA! No Im NoT!" Ino hiccupped once more. "YoUr DrUnk!" Sakura tossed her olive stick from one of her martinis. "I'm SoTaLlY tObEr.!" She yelled. Ino pointed to her. "EHHHHHH! SakUrA tHat MadE No SenSE." Sakura covered her mouth. "YoU sTiLl CaNt PrOvE It!"The pinkette yelled. Hinata just looked at them as each one spoke. And eventually as they were yelling back and forth Hinata took another drink. Then without another word, she passed out. Her head hit the bars counter as both girls fought.

"I bEt If YoU lEt Go Of YoUr BaR sToOl, tHaT yOu WoUld Fall!" Ino drunkly said. Sakura looked down at her hands while swaying back and forth. Her hands were tightly gripped around the stools seat. She looked back up. "No I wOnt!" She yelled.

"PrOvE It!"

Right after Ino told her to, she let go of the stool, and as Ino guessed Sakura fell over. "HAHAHAHAHAHA" Ino laughed as she let go of her stool to point at her. "SEEEEEE………….AHHH!" Ino fell down after her.

The crash woke Hinata up and she pulled her head up so fast she lost her balance and fell backwards. All 3 girls were left laughing on the floor as people watched. "LeTs Go HoMe, My HeAd HuRts!" Sakura mumbled as she stumbled to her feet. The other two agreed with Sakura and they tried to help each other up but their legs were too wobbly. They all just fell on top of each other again.

Eventually some people helped them stand, and were nice enough to walk them home so they wouldn't fall again and freeze to death because they couldn't stand up. Sakura was so drunk that she told the guy that helped her that she was single and stayed in Naruto's house. But in her words it was HER house.

He flirted with her the whole way, and she went to kiss him at the door, when she realized that she had a boyfriend, NARUTO! "Oh ShiT!" Sakura yelled as their lips almost touched. She quickly turned away from the guy and ran inside. "I jUsT rEmEmBeReD, I hAvE a BoYfRiEnD!" She then yelled through the door. The guy stood at the door thinking it was a joke, but as he waited for almost an hour for her to come outside and yell 'JUST KIDDEN!' He soon realized she was telling the truth and sadly walked away.


	3. And it begins

The morning sun came out and woke up the stray ninja outside the village. "YAWWWWWWN!" Mona rose from her sleeping bag like a zombie rising from the grave. She looked around to see if her fellow ninja were awake. No one. Everyone was still asleep. She slumped in disappointment. She then got an idea and sat up strait, took a deep breath and…..

"GOOOOOOOOOOOD MOOOOORNING EVVVERYYYONNNNNNNE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Everyone shot up from their beds and nearly wet themselves. She smiled in her usual Chibi manner as all the grown men around her gathered their dignity and left the tent. She opened her eyes and turned to look at the only man that didn't wake up.

"Gobi?" she whispered. He didn't move. "Gobi? You awake? Terra-senpai might want us to wake up now and get ready for the attack later."She then mumbled. He still didn't move. "GOBI!? ARE YOU DEAD?!" Mona then yelled. He slowly looked over his shoulder to show the young girl he was still alive. "Oh thank god! Hehe!" She stood up, put her coat on and ran for the tent door. "I'll see you outside Gobi-kun!"

Meanwhile outside Terra looked very frustrated. Mona approached her with a smile on her face, but as soon as she saw what mood Terra was in her Chibi mood went straight down to business. "What is it Terra-senpai?" She asked as she knelt down and set her fist on the ground as if she was addressing royalty.

Terra turned around. "One of our men got caught in a trap," She mumbled angrily making Mona look up in surprise. "And he will need most of the day to heal." She then added. Mona cocked her head to the side. "So then when do we attack now?" She asked. Terra turned back around with an annoyed and frustrated look. "Later this afternoon." "Yes Senpai!" Mona stood up and went straight back into Chibi mode and skipped off.

"What am I gonna do with that girl?"

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The sun shone through Naruto's window while Sakura slept soundly. Well actually not so soundly, she had been tossing and turning since 3:00. She had a terrible hangover from the night before, and thought her head was gonna explode if she didn't do anything about it. "GOD!" Sakura screamed as she sat up as fast as she could grabbing hold of her head.

"Why me…." She asked as she rocked back-n-forth in the bed hoping it would go away. The pinkette looked over to the door. 'I wonder if he has Tylenol or Panadol in the bathroom.' She thought as she got out of the bed and left the room. She strolled over to the bathroom and started searching through his cabinets. 'Damn nothing.' She sat on the ground. 'Doesn't he get headaches every once in awhile?'

There was a knock at the door moments later. Sakura looked at the door and wondered who it could be. 'They might be here for Naruto, but he's gone.' She kept thinking as she slowly walked towards the door. 'Maybe they don't know he left.' She slowly approached the door and held out her hand. She gripped the handle and paused for a moment to let the pain in her head drift on by. It went away and she opened the door.

A box of Panadol was held up to her face as she opened it. Sakura grabbed it and raised an eyebrow in confusion. She looked up to see who had given it to her. The pinkette was hoping it wasn't the guy from last night. "Thought you might have needed it." They said. "Oh! Ino!" Sakura said as she realized who it was. Ino was standing at the door dressed in snow clothes. She was smiling and looked like she had a rough night as well.

"I had a bad night, you know with a hangover. Hehe" Ino mumbled. She looked at Sakura then she pointed to the box. "I figured that you had the same kinda night so I came on over." She then said. Sakura looked at the box again. "Thanks Ino—WAIT!" She looked at Ino making her jump back. "How did you know I was at Naruto's place?"

Ino laughed and looked in the direction of Sakura's house. "I went to your place and your mom said you weren't there, soooo." She looked back at Sakura. "I came here thinking that you came here last night instead of home, and look! I found you." She smiled and chuckled.

"So Sakura I know you might be tired in all, buuuuuut there's that winter celebration thingy this afternoon." Ino then started. Sakura turned and walked over to the kitchen gesturing Ino to come in. "Yeah I know." She mumbled. Ino sat down at the table as Sakura got a glass of water and took the Panadol. "Well do you wanna go?"The blonde asked. Sakura gulped down the tablets and looked at her.

"I wanted to go with Naruto."

"Well he's not here."

"But Ino?"

"Don't but me, just go and have fun."

Sakura wanted to go to the winter celebration with Naruto more than anything. She almost couldn't believe Ino asked her to go without him. "Ino…."She started. Ino stood up and walked over. "Come on Sakura." The blonde said. Sakura just stared at the drain in the sink. "Fine ill go." She smiled as Ino's face lit up. "OH GREAT! Hinata and I will meet you at the dancing hall." She said as she walked over to the door. "Oh! And don't forget to where all white." Ino then added. Sakura smiled and waved as Ino left. 'I'll go home and take out that dress I was gonna wear just to impress Naruto.' she softly chuckled as she walked out the door, still in her robe.

Sakura was halfway down the road when she felt a cold breeze, a REALLY cold breeze. She wondered why and realized she wasn't in her regular clothes. "EEEEK!" She turned around and ran as fast as she could back to Naruto's house.

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Mona was skipping along the village gate when she heard a twig crack. She immediately took out a kunai and turned in the direction of the noise. "WHOSE THERE!"She called. A figure came round from behind a tree. "Oh! Gobi-kun!" She said as she ran over and jumped on his shoulders, twisted around and dropped so she could hang on his back. "What are you doing over here?"

"I was wondering where you ran off to." He mumbled as he turned around and started walking back to their camp. "Oh really?" He looked in the corner of his eye as if he was trying to look at her. "You're not supposed to be so close to the gate, you could get caught." Gobi mumbled. "Oh Gobi-kun I was just fine." She smiled. "I am the strongest out of all of us after all."

He looked forward again. "Besides Terra." She almost forgot. "Oh yeah! She's stronger than me, HeHeHe!" Her happy look changed to sad as she realized something important. "Hey, it's getting late…" She mumbled. He kept walking. "We might not be able to attack, and tomorrows Christmas."Mona then added. Gobi stopped and looked over his shoulder to see the sad girl's face. "I wish I could spend Christmas with my Mom and Dad."

"But they are dead, aren't they?" He asked as he started to walk again. "Yeah…" She tightened her grip around his neck and laid her head down on his shoulders. "I miss them a lot though."— "THERE YOU TWO ARE!" They both looked forward. Terra and the others were all gathered around a fire. "Where were you?" Gobi looked at his captain then the girl. Seeing of how sad she was he decided to take the blame for her.

"I was running towards the village to get a head start in the attack, when Mona stopped me."He said. Mona's eyes widened as he lied to his captain. Terra raised an eyebrow as he kept going. "I wouldn't listen to her and as I kept going she ran after me and fell. She hurt her knee so that's why I'm carrying her."

"Be more careful Mona, now we might have to postpone the attack even more."Terra growled. "No senpai I'm fine see." Mona jumped off of Gobi and ran around the fire a few times. She stopped to look at her. "It only hurt for a bit, I'm fine now I swear."The small ninja said. "Are you sure?"Terra asked. "YUP!" Mona nodded with a chibi like smile. "Ok everyone get ready, were gonna attack in a few minutes or so…." She walked off and Mona looked at Gobi. Their eyes met. "Thank you Gobi." He nodded and fallowed his captain along with the others.

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Ino waited at the Dancing hall for Sakura to finally show up. She was wearing a white dress; Of course, it stopped right before her knees. It was strapless and had white tool on the bottom. White flowers made from another material were printed on the dress as well. Her high heels straps wrapped up and around her legs passing and stopping after her knees. They were white too of course.

"UGG! Where is she?"

"Right here."

"She's taking forever."

"Ino?"

"I probably should just go inside."

"Innnnnooooo."

"Yeah, that's what I'll do, just go insi-"

"INO!"

"Heh?"

Ino turned around. "SAKURA!" She yelled as she hugged her friend as fast as she could. "Ino…you……mind……letting me……………….breath."Sakura gasped. "OH!" Ino jumped off of her. Sakura gasped for air as she did. "Thank you." "No problem!" Ino looked at Sakura from head to toe. "Sakura you look beautiful!" She then said. Sakura smiled "Thanks Ino."

Sakura's white dress looked almost the same as the green one she wore for the festival dance, when Cheyenne was still around. It cut off below the waist exposing her right leg. It was long sleeve though. The sleeves hugged her arm all the way down. They were tied down around her middle fingers. And her high heels were not as interesting as Ino's but they were beautiful like her dress. She also had a white Cherry blossom in her hair.

"We should go inside." Sakura said. Ino laughed and agreed as they both walked inside. Inside the music was nice and slow. Couples were dancing in the middle. Hinata and Kiba, Neji and TenTen, Shikamaru and Temari. Everyone was there. Even Sai was waiting for Ino at a table. "SAI!" Ino noticed him right away and ran over to him.

Sai looked surprised at Ino but even more surprised at Sakura. "Why Is Sakura here?" He asked. Ino stopped and turned around to look at Sakura. "Because I asked her to come." She looked at Sai again. "Why is that a problem?" She then asked. Sai jumped back as she raised her voice a bit. "N….No Ino not at all." He looked at the ground then back at Ino.

"It's just….Sakura-san wanted to come with Naruto, and he has been gone for so lo-" Ino interrupted him. "Sai don't talk about that!" She turned to look at Sakura curiously look at some couples. She looked at Sai once more and held up her finger. "I was barely able to convince her to come." Ino then said. Sai just blinked then he looked over in Sakura's direction. Sakura looked upset. "Ino she looks…..What was that word…." He tried to think of the right word as Ino waited for him to finish his sentence. "Oh! Right!" He looked at Ino. "She looks depressed."

"Huh?" Ino turned to look at Sakura. Sakura did look a little down. "Oh, I made a terrible mistake bringing her here." Ino then mumbled sadly. Sai secretly nodded in agreement as Ino wasn't looking. "I should just let her go home; she doesn't have to stay if she doesn't want to." Sai immediately stopped as she turned back around.

"Sai what were you doing?" He held up both hands like he wasn't doing anything. "SAI?!" She growled. "Ummmmm….huh?" He noticed something to the right. "Ino…" He pointed hopping that Ino would look so he could get away without getting pummeled. "What?" She looked over as Sai sighed in relief.

Sakura was walking their way. "Sakura what's wrong?" Ino asked. Sakura looked really depressed now. "Ino I want to go home." The pinkette said. Ino smiled. "Ok ill take you home." "No thank-you." "Huh?" Sakura was already heading for the door. "Seeing these couples makes me sick, I want to be alone for awhile ok?" Sakura muttered. Ino stared at her, while Sai tried to sneak away. Ino just grabbed him by the collar, without even looking.

"Ok Sakura I'll see you tomorrow." Ino said. Sakura looked over her shoulder, and tried to smile; but seemed to fail. "Sai you're not getting away." Ino then mumbled in the corner of her mouth. Sai had tried to escape again but Ino still had a hold on his Tux.

Sakura walked outside in the cold air and started to shiver. "Geez it's colder than usual." She mumbled as she shivered. She looked around before she set off home. "I should have brought a coat or something." Sakura shivered as she walked down the snowy road, when all of a sudden there was an explosion nearby.


	4. Meet Mona

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Sakura turned around as fast as she could only to see a giant shockwave fly by and knock her down. Her purse nearly ripped her arm off as the wind caught it. She looked back up in horror to see some buildings were destroyed in the distance. An alarm was sounded. Everyone ran out of their homes to get to safety. "What's going on?" Sakura asked as she held her purse close. People ran by nearly crushing her toes. Ino, Sai and the others ran out of the dancing hall.

Ino was very worried about Sakura and looked around the crowd as if she was looking for a lost child. "Sakura!" She called as she made her way through the crowd. Then another explosion was set off knocking everyone to the ground. "CRAP!" Ino stood back up, helping Sai and a few others. "She just left!" Ino yelled as she looked around some more hoping to spot her. "She could have got caught in the explosion!" Sai looked around as well. "Ino, is that her over there?" He asked as he pointed over to a cluster in the crowd.

Ino turned to look in the crowd. She narrowed her eyes to focus and another explosion set off in the distance, but no one fell since it was far away this time. "God! It's like where's Waldo!" She yelled before spotting her. "There she is, come on Sai!" She then said as she ran off. Sai looked around because he didn't hear her right. He thought someone else had said it, and was a bit curious.

"Oh my god Sakura, you ok?" Ino asked as soon as the pinkette was in sight. Sakura was trying to keep her balance as more explosions were simultaneously set off. "I'm fine Ino.—" "No you're not!" Ino interrupted. She pointed to Sakura's leg. She had glass in the upper part of it. Sakura looked at it in surprise. "Must have happened when the window behind me blew out from the explosion."

"Sakura we need to treat your leg—" "NO! INO IM FINE!" Sakura interrupted. Ino gasped and took a step back. "Sakura?" She asked. Sakura looked at the ground, and started crying. "Naruto wouldn't want me to give up." She looked back up; face dripping in tears. "I'm going to find out who's doing this." She then said. Ino tried to stop her as she ran off, but Sakura's strength overpowered her.

"SAKURA DON'T!" Ino tried to call out to her but her voice seemed to not reach her. "CRAP! SAI, WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GO?!" Her voice seemed quiet as the explosions drowned it out. Sai heard her voice though and looked around to find her. He saw her and ran towards her, but on his way the building behind Ino blew up and she was lost in a cloud of dust and snow. Sai immediately stopped in horror. "INO!!!"

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile Sakura was running through the snow covered streets as fast as she could. All she could think about was 'right foot, left foot' over and over again. 'Crap, where are the explosions coming from?' She then thought as she ran around a corner. She then fell to the ground from the force of another explosion. "GOD DAMN IT!" She struggled back up to her feet.

"HELLO!!"

Sakura looked around for the voice. "IM UP HERE!" The voice yelled again. Sakura looked up at the closest roof. "Where are you? I don't see you!" She asked. "TURN TO THE LEFT!"The voice yelled. Sakura started looking left. She looked at the next roof over. "NOT THAT ONE! ONE MORE BUILDING!" The voice yelled once again. Sakura rolled her eyes and looked one more over. Her eyes widened. "Who….who are you?"

A little girl gave her a sly smile. "Why…..I'm Mona, thanks for asking." She said. Sakura looked at the young girl. She had her hair up in a messy bun. Its color was purple, with blue streaks. Her eyes were a dark red color at first then faded into a light color red. The jacket she wore was white with green long sleeves. She also wore vary short purple shorts, with long black socks with purple rings on the top rising half way up her upper leg.

"Mona?" Sakura asked. "YUP YUP!" Mona said as she smiled in her usual Chibi manner. Sakura raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Mona, are you a leaf villager?" She asked. Mona leaned over and raised an eyebrow. "Do I look like a leaf villager?" She asked. Sakura focused more on the girls outfit to try to spot the headband she owned.

"Where is your head band?" Sakura asked. Mona blinked. "What?" She looked behind her, and then she started spinning as if she was chasing her tail. "Where the hell did it go?!" She asked. Sakura used this advantage to get away from the girl just in case she was a threat. Mona kept spinning and then finally she reached into her kunai pouch behind her and pulled out a head band. "There, hehe, I found it." She stuck out her tongue and turned back around to face the place Sakura once stood. "See here it is — WHAT!" She looked back and forth desperate to find the pinkette. "Where'd she go?!" She jumped off the building and called out for her as she walked. "HEY MISS PINKEY, WHERE'D YOU GO?!"

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sai ran over to the rubble worried about Ino. "Ino?! Are you ok?!" He asked "Yeah.*cough, cough* I think I'm ok." Ino mumbled as she rose from the rubble. He helped her up to her feet. "Oh god, I think I ruined my dress." She started to pout, when she noticed that this was a bad time to start pouting. "Sai!" She then yelled. He jumped back a little. "Yes, Ino?" He asked. "We need to get in better clothes and take whoever is doing this down!" Ino yelled proudly. He blinked and looked at her like she was crazy. But what did he know; he was still living off books. "Umm Ok." They both nodded and separated into two different directions.

'I hope Sakura doesn't freeze to death in that dress.' Ino thought. She nearly killed herself wearing those high heels of hers; she kept tripping over small stones. The blonde stepped into a hole she didn't see and another building was hit by an explosion; knocking Ino into the air upside down. "SHIT!" The shockwave slammed her into a nearby wall.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sakura ran up a tall hill panting vary deeply. 'Shit! What do I do there's no one in sight.' She thought as she looked around to see if anyone was nearby. No one. She looked at the village. Homes and buildings were exploding everywhere. Then she glanced at the mountain, the woman and children were all safely getting inside. "Good thing they made it up there before things got too bad."

"Yeah good thing huh?"

Sakura didn't move, she was frozen in fear towards the dark, evil voice behind her. "Who are you?" She asked as she slowly started to turn around to face the man. He pointed to himself in confusion. "Who? Me?" He asked. Sakura's eye twitched. "Yes you, who else would I be talking to?" She asked back. He started laughing. "My name is Kanji, of the rain."

'A rain ninja huh?' Sakura raised an eyebrow. "What is your purpose here?!" She then asked. "My purpose, my dear sweet is to fi—" Sakura cut him off by throwing a punch at his face. "YOU KNOW WHAT!" She yelled. She then stood up strait, as he wiped his cheek off. "I DON'T WANNA HEAR IT!" Sakura then punched the ground and the whole area in front of her was destroyed, catching Kanji off guard. 'Shit, she's strong.'

He made a few hand signs, and before Sakura could react, hundreds of kunai flew her direction. She did a back flip and dodged as many as she could. The kunais cut her dress into threads around her legs and as she did a cartwheel to dodge a few more; her heel hit a rock at the wrong angle and broke. "Shit!" She fell to the ground and tried to fix her heel when Kanji came from above with an axel kick heading her way.

His foot gave contact, but not with what he wanted. Sakura held up the rock she had stepped on. "AH! GOD DAMN THAT HURTS!" He did a back flip and landed on his bottom. Sakura then took this time to take her shoes off. 'It's gonna be cold but that's a chance I'm willing to take.' She stood up and stumbled to the ice cold snow on her bare feet. He looked up at her as she tossed her shoes to the side. She then put herself into a fighting position, and gave him a sly smile. "Now I'm ready to dance."

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Buildings all over the village were being destroyed by the explosions set off by the enemy. Everyone was trying their best to find were the enemy was but they couldn't find anybody. The only person that found anybody was Sakura, and she's found two. But at the moment Sakura's been busy fighting one. Kanji and she have been fighting each other for 30 minutes since she lost her shoes. Her feet were so cold that they were starting to turn red. Her dress was torn to shreds all over. She used her purse as a weapon to hit him in the head, because she had no weapons.

Kanji ran towards her and got hit in the head again. "OW! What the hell do you have in there?" He asked as he grabbed his throbbing skull. "Hmm?" She looked at the purse confused. "I don't know, I forgot." She mumbled as she tried to open the purse to look, but he gave her no chance and charged for her once more. "HEY WAIT!" Sakura dodged him by doing a back flip, but her feet hurt so badly she fell to the ground.

'Ugg I can't get up!' She thought as she tried to get up. But her feet seemed to tell her to stay down. "Looks like your feet have reached the limit." Kanji mumbled. Sakura tried, and tried to get up but her feet hurt so badly she couldn't touch the snow. 'Shit! Fight the pain Sakura, fight the pain!' She slowly started to stand up after a few tries.

Kanji slowly started walking towards her as his Kunai glowed with chakra. "I'd kill you right now but there's a question I need to ask you first." He said. Sakura looked up to him from her feet. "What's the question?" She asked. He stopped to ask her. "There is this certain stone that I am looking for." As he spoke, Sakura secretly dug through her purse behind her back.

"What kinda stone?" The pinkette asked. He looked at her and wondered if she knew about it. "A big one." He then said. Sakura rolled her eyes. "Ugg, that narrows it down." She growled. "It's a special one, we don't exactly know what it does yet, but we know it's special." Kanji then said. At that moment Sakura felt something sharp in her purse. 'I forgot I brought this, I could have used it.'

Sakura immediately looked up to him stopping his sentence. "Sorry but I've never heard of such a rock."She then said. He glanced in her direction and knew she had a weapon. "WHY YOU!" He started running for her, and all she could think about was running. He smashed his fist into the ground but she jumped to the side and rolled as she came in contact with the cold snow.

"No way!" She took out the 3 ended kunai from her purse. "Wha…what kind of kunai is that?" He asked in surprise. She looked at it and studied the writing on the handle. It looked as if the writing was changed a bit. "I don't exactly know." She said before getimg lost in her memories, thinking about what it does.

**

"Ehh? What is it?"

"I want you to have it….it's a special kunai. Jiraiya gave it to me."

"What….What does it do?"

"You will know at the right moment, trust me Sakura-Chan!"

**

Sakura snapped out her flashback as he clapped his hands together. "Hey, hey are you still there?" Kanji asked. She looked up to her enemy who was now walking towards her. "I didn't want to lose you before I got the chance to kill you." He then said. She bit her lip as he said this. 'This kunai if awfully strange, what do I do with it?" She thought as she looked down at it and gripped it. 'Do I just throw it?' She glanced at the writing on the handle. 'Or do I channel chakra through the handle—' "What are you thinking about missy?" Kanji asked; completely interrupting her thoughts. She looked back up as he took out another kunai.

'I just gotta try!' She channeled chakra through the kunai's handle. "Oh no you don't!" He started running towards her as he made a few hand signs. "I'll kill you!" He then yelled. Sakura closed her eyes and without thinking, she threw the kunai. He just smiled and reflected the kunai making it fly high up into the sky, over the fog.

"Well that didn't work." She slapped her forehead. 'Damn it Naruto! That didn't do anything.'

He gave her an evil chuckle. "You stupid little bi-" *BOOM* Sakura looked over to where the man stood. Something had fallen out of the sky and landed right on top of Kanji. "What was that?" She asked as she stood up strait. The pinkette tried to see what had fallen on him. As the snow slowly fell making her vision better she saw that he was still standing. "HUH?! What the hell?" She caught herself when she noticed that it wasn't him, but yet another strange figure stood on top of him "Who……….who is that?"

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mona was skipping along the roads of Konaha still looking for Sakura. "HEY PINKY! WHERE'D YOU GO, I GOTTA ASK YOU SOMETHING!" She called. "Is this pinky you're talking about my friend Sakura?" Someone asked. She glanced over to her right spotting someone leaning on a nearby building. "Who are yooooou?" Mona then asked. The person started walking towards her. "I am called Sai."

"Sai?" She cocked her head in confusion. "Hehehe." She pulled her fist up to her mouth and chuckled. "That's a funny name!" She laughed. He stopped and looked at her. "How is it?" Sai asked. "Oooo I don't know, it just sounds funny, hehe." She appeared behind him and threw her arms over his shoulders. "By the way, my name is Mona!"

He didn't show any surprise to her but he did turn his head and ask her kindly to get off. And surprisingly she did. The little girl ran around to his front and poked his stomach. "Why does your shirt show off your belly?" She then asked. "Does that matter at the moment?" The expressionless man asked. She looked up at his face. It was blank with no emotion.

"You're weird."

He just blinked. "I understand you needed to ask my friend a question." He then said. "Huh? OH!" She jumped into the air and did a couple back flips. She then landed far away to get some distance. "OK!" Mona started running in a circle. "I'll ask you, since I can't find her." Her running confused Sai. He pointed to her. "Why are yo—" She stopped and Shushed him. "SHHHH! I'm asking you a question."

"Ok……Have you heard of a special stone, being anywhere in this village?"

"I actually haven't lived here vary long, so I wouldn't know."

"Really? What about pinky?"

"What about Sakura-san?"

"Does she know about the stone? How long has she lived here?"

"All her life I believe, but I'm not sure if she knows about this stone you're talking about."

"Oh ok…"

Sai looked at her. Her strange Chibi like manner was now sad. "Are you ok?" he asked. She looked at him; tears were falling down her face. "Well I really need to know where that stone is." She mumbled as she sat down and wrapped her arms around her knees. The small girl then started crying. "Terra-senpai is counting on me." She mumbled in sadness. Sai didn't think about the situation, and walked over and knelt down in front of her. "I'll help you find it." He said. Mona looked up and her tear covered face lit up. "REALLY?!" She yelled. He smiled and nodded. "OH, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!" She jumped up and hugged him. "You're the nicest person ever!" She jumped off of him. "Well besides Gobi-kun."

Mona held out her hand. "Well Sai, let's go find that stone together." She said. He stood up and grabbed her hand and smiled. "Okay." They both walked up the road together, holding hands. Sai never knew how dangerous Mona was, and had no idea that she was part of the reason that the village was being destroyed. To him she was just an innocent little girl.


	5. Battle on Ice and apology

"Hey! Are you ok?"

"Huh? What…..what happened?"

Ino was woken up by a leaf ninja. She was covered in snow and dirt. She looked around and saw that the village was in bad condition. "What happened?!" She then asked. The leaf ninja helped her up. "There is a group of rain ninja attacking the village." He told her. Ino looked around to see the destruction. "Rain?" She asked. "Yes, we have only spotted one." Ino looked at him. "Where?"

He pointed over to an ally. "A few others and I came in contact with one in there." He looked back at Ino. "He asked us a few questions about a stone and then he told us who was all here, after we tied him down." He then said. Ino raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Stone? What kinda stone?" The blonde then asked. He looked around. "Some kind of special one they are all looking for."

"Hmm……I'll go get better clothes and I'll go ask lady Tsunade about this 'stone' that there looking for." Ino mumbled before she fixed her shoe and ran off towards her house. She only hopped that it wasn't destroyed yet.

The ninja turned around and was just about to meet up with his group when a figure appeared behind him and knocked him out. "You're not going anywhere my friend." The voice muttered. It was a woman, Terra in fact. Her bleach blonde curly locks fell over her shoulders as she reached over to drag him out of the street.

"Geez this is hard work" She mumbled as she wiped her forehead. Then she put most of her hair into a bun. Her dark bluish/black eyes looked back down to the man. "This is your lucky day." She disappeared with her last words echoing. "I'm too tired to kill you right now."

_________________________________________________________________

The snow tower in front of Sakura slowly fell. It seemed like time had stopped only because of how much she wanted to know who had just saved her. Kanji groaned from under the pair of feet on top of his head. Sakura was about to go crazy when a large gust of wind blew all the snow away. Sakura covered her eyes afraid that something might fly into them.

"Don't you dare touch her."

Sakura's eyes widened from behind her arms. She knew that voice. She slowly dropped her arms to see her rescuer. Her face immediately lit up when she saw him.

"NARUTO!"

Naruto stood on top of Kanji's head wearing his usual outfit. Only instead he wore a snow cape. He turned around to see Sakura running strait for him. "Sakura-Chan..did you mis-" She jumped on top of him and kissed him as they spun around. They stopped spinning and she let go of the kiss. "I missed you so much!" She then said with the biggest smile she could wear. Naruto smiled back. "Well it's time for you to stop missing." He then said. She was just about to smile even more when she noticed he was holding something in his right hand.

She jumped off and grabbed his right arm to see what it was. To her amazement, he was holding the 3 ended kunai. "How did you…." Sakura trailed off a bit and he looked at it. "I told you that you needed this." He said as he chuckled and pointed to the writing. "It's originally supposed to transport the user, but I tweaked the writing a bit soooo…." He closed his eyes and pointed to himself. "You threw it, and it summoned me."

Sakura looked at him with amazement. "Oh I get it!" She chuckled and held his free hand. "Did it scare you at first when you disappeared in the middle of training?" She then asked. Naruto opened his eyes and looked up. "Actually I was on my way home." He then said as he looked back down into her beautiful eyes. "And well it did scare me though."

She laughed as he said those words and gave him a quick peak on the lips. "So pretty much I made your trip home even quicker?" The pinkette asked playfully. Naruto rubbed the bottom of his nose and nodded. "Yeah pretty much, but I feel bad." He mumbled. "Why?" Sakura asked. "I left Jiraiya alone." They both started laughing as they imagined Jiraiya freaking out why Naruto suddenly disappeared.

"How sweet you two look."

They both looked over to Kanji. He was slowly standing up. "HEY GET YOUR SORRY ASS BACK IN THE GROUND!"Naruto yelled; completely out of character. Sakura quickly looked at Naruto as he yelled at Kanji. "No way."Kanji mumbled back. Naruto bit his bottom lip and moved Sakura aside. "I'm warning you!" He growled at the man. "Oh I'm so scared." Kanji muttered sarcastically back. Naruto gave him a sly smile. "You should be."

Kanji looked at him. He noticed the whiskers and started to laugh. Naruto looked confused. "What?" The blonde asked; a little annoyed. Kanji was laughing hysterically now. "What are you gonna do, scratch me to death with your kitty claws!" He blurted out. Naruto's eyes twitched. Sakura knew he was mad now. "What did you just say?" The Jinchuuriki then asked. "You heard me kitty boy." He gave Naruto a sly smile. "MEEEEEOW!"

Naruto couldn't stand it anymore. He made a chain of hand signs. "I WARNED YOU!" Kanji kept imitating a cat as Naruto's anger grew stronger. Naruto rolled his eyes and held out both hand in front of him. "FUUTON: WIND TSUNAMI JUTZU!"

A giant wave of killer winds formed in front of Naruto and Sakura and charged for Kanji. The rain ninja couldn't react fast enough as the giant tsunami of winds crashed onto him and blew him away. He flew for miles across the village; finally crashing into the giant wall surrounding the village.

"Whoa!" Sakura blinked in amazement. She looked at Naruto. He looked very tired. 'That must have used a lot of chakra.' Sakura thought as she walked over to him and helped him stand up straight. "Naruto that was amazing." She then said. He panted a bit and looked at Sakura and smiled. "Yeah, just learned that." He then muttered. "Are you ok?" "Yeah just let me sit for a second." She helped him sit down, and she sat down next to him.

_________________________________________________________________

Tsunade sat at her desk staring at her village being destroyed. 'I need to go out there and help.' She thought before she looked at the two AMBU members standing in front of her door. 'But they won't let me out.' She then rolled her eyes and looked back outside. 'I hope everybody is holding up alright.'

"Please I have to talk to lady Tsunade! It's important!"

Tsunade turned to the door as she heard a young girl yelling from the other side. She looked at the ANBU. "Let her in, now!" She yelled. They both nodded and opened the door. Ino was yelling with the ANBU on the outside of the door.

"Ino get in here!" Tsunade ordered. Ino looked over and noticed that the door was open. "Oh!" She laughed nervously and walked inside. Tsunade looked at the ANBU as they shut the door. Ino then walked over to the chair and sat down. Tsunade then looked at Ino. "What do you need?"The older blonde asked. Ino looked up at her. "The people that are attacking our village are from the hidden rain." She told her. Tsunade sat down. "Go on." Ino took a deep breath and continued.

"Well they are looking for something."

"Looking for what?"

"A stone."

"A stone?"

"Yes ma'am"

"What kind of stone are they looking for?"

"I don't know exactly, just some kind of special stone."

"Special?"

"Yes ma'am."

Tsunade turned her chair around to look outside. She looked at the lake in the distance.

'Could it be THAT stone?'

_________________________________________________________________

Naruto and Sakura sat in the snow together. Catching his breath, Naruto finally stood up and looked at Sakura. "Let's go to Tsunade." He then said. She looked up to him then in the direction Kanji went. "What about Kanji? Did that kill him or what?" She asked as she looked back at Naruto; he was looking that way too. "He's dead. No one can survive that." He then muttered. "I know it….." He then looked at her and held out his hand. "Come on."

Sakura nodded and grabbed his hand. He helped her up and they both started walking towards the Hokage's mansion. They were almost down the hill when Sakura's feet gave out and she fell. "Sakura-Chan!" Naruto hit his knees to catch her before she fell all the way.

"Are you ok?" The blonde then asked in concern. She looked at him and rubbed the top of her foot. "Yeah my feet are just so cold that I can't feel them."The pinkette muttered. Naruto blinked and stood up. She watched him walk in front of her and kneel down again. "Get on my back I'll carry you the rest of the way."

"Are you sure? You're tired too." Sakura said. He held out a thumbs up; still looking forward. "Don't worry I'll be fine." Naruto then said. She gave it some thought then smiled. "Okay." She climbed up onto his back and he stood up. "Ready?"She nodded and he started walking towards the mansion once more.

_________________________________________________________________

Tsunade turned around to face Ino. "Ino, I want you to gather as many of the ninja you know as possible."She then said. Ino looked up at her from her lap. "What? Why?" She asked. Tsunade looked at the ANBU and never looked away. "I want you and those Ninja to go guard the lake." The older blonde then said. Ino cocked her head. "The Lake? But isn't it frozen over?"

Tsunade looked away from the ANBU. "Yes it is. That's why they are here." She walked over to the window. "Around this time when that lake freezes over….." She turned back around. "Well let's just say, the stone their looking for is in the lake."

Ino blinked. "No way, how do you know?"

"Excuse me my lady?" The door was opened by one of the ANBU members outside the door. Tsunade looked over to him. "Yes what is it?" She asked. "You have two more visitors. Should I let them in?" The ANBU asked. Ino looked behind her in curiosity of who it could be.

"Yes let them in."

_________________________________________________________________

Mona and Sai were walking down a road together looking around. Every once in awhile Mona would let go of Sai's hand and inspect a rock that she'd walk by. She was humming a song as if the horrible destruction around them wasn't happening. She then saw a flower as Sai inspected a rock to the side.

Sai looked at it then he poked it. It didn't do anything, so he shrugged and turned back around to walk with Mona again. A flower was held up to his face. "Huh?" He looked down to see Mona holding the flower up to his face. "Mona?" He asked. The young girl only smiled at his confused face. "I thought giving it to you would be a way of saying thank you for helping me find the stone."

"Oh…" He took the flower and Mona skipped on ahead. She turned around as he stared at the flower. "COME ON SAI!" She then called. Sai snapped out of his trance and fallowed her down the road as she skipped. Meanwhile someone was watching in the trees.

"How dare he take her away from me." The dark figure whispered before disappearing without another word.

_________________________________________________________________

"NARUTO?!" Ino yelled in surprise as she stood up in amazement. Naruto and Sakura walked inside as she did this. Tsunade just smiled. "Welcome back Naruto." The blonde Hokage muttered. He looked up to her. "Well yeah sorta." He mumbled as he set Sakura down in a chair. "It seems that every time I come home from a long trip, the village is in trouble."

Ino looked at Sakura's feet. Blood ran down the bottom of them and dripped off her toes. "Naruto, you do know that Sakura's feet are bleeding right?" The blonde girl asked. He looked at her then at Sakura's feet. "Yeah that's why I was carrying her." He then mumbled. Ino looked at Sakura. She was sleeping.

"How long has she been asleep?"

Naruto looked over to Tsunade. "Oh she fell asleep on the way here." He answered. Tsunade nodded in understanding, and then she looked over to Ino. "Ino, go to Sakura's home, if it's still there, and get her some proper fighting clothes and shoes." She ordered.

"Yes ma'am!" Ino turned around and ran out the door.

"Naruto."

"Hm?" Naruto looked away from the door and back to Tsunade. "Move." Tsunade nudged him away as she knelt down in front of Sakura. She grabbed hold of the bottom of her feet and started healing them. "There will be no reason to get her shoes if she can't even wear them." She then muttered with a slight laugh. Naruto nodded and a goofy grin appeared. "You're absolutely right!"

She looked up at him. "You're still stupid aren't you?" She asked; mostly in a joke. He looked down in shock. "ME! STUPID?" He crossed his arms and looked away. "Never…."

"Yeah sure what ever." He glared at her.

"This is the thanks I get for coming home and rescuing you're only student's life."

"Naruto?"

"Oh! Or maybe, just maybe I might just save this whole village from utter destruction!"

"Naruto?!"

"Yeah I just might do that and guess what!"

"NARUTO!"

"You won't care! You'll just call me stupid again!"

"NARUTO UZUMAKI!"

"WHAT!!!"

"You woke her up!"

"Huh?"

Sakura was glaring right at him. The stare petrified Naruto. "Um Sakura-Chan, I'm…..I'm sorry, I didn't mean it."Naruto muttered. Sakura turned away and looked out the window. "Sakura-Chan..." He got down on his knees and grabbed her hands. "Don't get mad I didn't mean it, I swear!" She turned to look at him making him jump back a bit.

"Sakura-Chan?" He asked. Tsunade looked at Naruto and rolled her eyes. "Naruto she was sleeping so peacefully." She mumbled. He looked at her. "Well I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." He looked back at Sakura. "Forgive me please; I'll make it up to you." She raised an eyebrow and looked at him.

"How?"

He was speechless. "I……I……I….." "Humph!" She looked and pulled her arms away. "Sakura-Chaaaaaan." He fell backwards and started rolling around. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry……" Sakura and Tsunade stared at him as he rolled around repeating these words.

The door opened and Ino ran inside. "OK Sakura's house was still there and I got some clothes and her shoes." Ino said. Sakura looked up at Ino from Naruto. "Thanks Ino." She then said. "No problem…."The blonde said before she looked at Naruto. He was still rolling around repeating the words 'I'm sorry'.

"Is he ok?" She asked. They both looked at him again. Sakura just shrugged. "Alright then, Sakura you should be able to walk now." Tsunade said; standing up.  
Sakura stood up and walked over to Ino. "Thanks master, and Ino." She held out her hands. "Oh! Right sorry." Ino handed her the clothes and shoes. Sakura glanced over to Naruto. He was still rolling around saying 'I'm sorry'.

"Geez" She rolled her eyes and walked out the door to get dressed in the closest bathroom.

_________________________________________________________________

"LALALALA!"

Mona was jumping up and down on one foot singing. She grabbed Sai's hand and did a twirl. "Oh! Sai this is sooo much fun." She said as she stopped and looked at him. "I'm glad were friends." He just looked at her. 'Friends?' He thought. "Hehehe." She giggled and turned around to start skipping again.

As she skipped he noticed something that he didn't like. "Mona!" He called as he ran over and tackled her. They both rolled down a hill as an explosion was set off where Mona was standing. They both landed on ice and slid out to the middle of the frozen lake.

Mona looked up the hill to see what happened. She then gasped. Sai looked over to her. "Mona what is it?" He asked. She pointed to the top of the hill. "Go……….Gobi-kun?" Her small lips muttered. "What?" Sai asked as he looked up the hill. Gobi was standing at the top of the hill. He didn't have any expression on his face like usual but in a way Mona could tell he was angry.

"Mona you know this man?" Sai asked. Mona stood up and focused chakra in her feet so she wouldn't slip. "Yeah, I've known him for a long time." She then looked up at him. "GOBI-KUN WHY DID YOU TRY TO BLOW ME UP?!" She yelled in question. He didn't respond but then he glanced over to Sai. "You bastard." He growled making Sai stand up. Mona looked at Sai then Gobi then Sai and then back to Gobi.

"Gobi-kun what's wrong? Why are you doing this?" The little girl asked. Gobi looked at Mona and jumped down the hill. He slid on the ice and knelt down before Mona. "My apologies Mona, I meant to hit him." He then said. Sweat dripped from Sai's face. What did he mean? Why did he want to hit Sai?

"Who are you and why did you want to hit me?" The expressionless man finally asked. Gobi turned to look at Sai. "My name is Gobi and Mona doesn't belong to you!" Gobi yelled. Mona looked at Gobi in confusion and surprisment. "Gobi-kun?"

Sai raised an eyebrow. "I never said Mona was mine." Sai then muttered. Gobi glared at him for a moment then walked closer. Mona tried to stop him but he stuck his arm out and stopped her. "Mona it's ok….I'll protect you."


	6. Down Under

Sakura walked back into the office only to see Ino and Tsunade staring at Naruto roll around. She looked at Ino gaining her attention. "Is he ever going to stop?" She asked. Ino and Tsunade both looked at each other and answered at the same time…

"Who knows?"

Sakura rolled her eyes and knelt down in Naruto's 'roll' path. He hit her knees and stopped rolling. She raised an eyebrow as he looked up at her. "Naruto." She said. He started to roll again, but she picked him up by the collar and brought him to his feet. "Sakura-Chan I'm sor—"

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY THAT AGAIN!"

"Sakura!"

Sakura looked at Tsunade and then she looked at Naruto. She dropped him and sat down in the chair. "Yes Master?" The pinkette then asked. Naruto crawled over to his chair and climbed into it.

"Ino…"

"Oh right sorry."

Ino walked over and stood in between both chairs. "Go find all the ninja you know and go guard the lake." Tsunade said. After this, the blonde opened his eyes and shot a glare at the woman. Then he shook his head really fast.

"Whoa whoa, can you repeat that, I think I had something crazy in my ear!" Naruto yelled as he pointed to his ear. Sakura and Ino smacked their foreheads as he kept going. "Why would we need to guard a frozen lake?!" He then asked. Tsunade just looked at him. She didn't say anything. It started to worry Naruto. "Umm Baa-Chan?"

"I don't care Naruto!" Tsunade barked. She stood up making Naruto fall out of his seat and hide behind Sakura's seat. "What they want is under the frozen ice." She then yelled. All 3 of them looked a Tsunade like she was crazy. But Naruto was the stupid one to talk.

"What, that's impossible!" He yelled; standing up. Tsunade beamed at him, making him retreat to his hiding spot.

"During this time of year the lake freezes right?" Tsunade asked. They all nodded. "The stone they are looking for is at the bottom of the lake." She walked over to the window. "When that stone is surrounded by ice it dissolves the ice." She turned back around. Ino was now sitting in Naruto's chair.

"Then what happens to the water when spring comes back around?" Ino asked. Tsunade looked at her. "It just does somehow, almost as if the Stone absorbs the ice and lets it back out as water when it gets warm." She said.

Naruto butt in again. "But didn't you just say it dissolves the ice." She beamed his way once more. "Ah! Never mind!"

"Anyway, during this time of year, the lake," She pointed behind her outside the window. "Is hollow."

Naruto stood up. "HOLLOW?!" This time it was Sakura's turn to beam at him. He immediately sat down as Sakura smiled. She set her hand down on his head.

"Good boy."

"That's why I need you all to protect the Lake so none of the ninja accidently shatter the thin layer on top." She said. Then there was silence. The Hokage looked at Naruto's chest for a little while. She couldn't see it but the necklace was still there she knew it. "Naruto." She said. He looked up from the floor. "Just promise me…..if the ice does shatter…..don't touch the stone." She told him.

"Why?"

"Just don't …"As soon as she finished saying that, an explosion was sounded outside. They all stood up and ran over to the window.

"That was bigger than the other explosions." Naruto said as he narrowed his eyes to see where it came from. "THERE!" He pointed to the lake.

"Shit!" Tsunade yelled. She then looked at them all. "All of you! To the lake now!"

"YES MA'AM! Naruto opened the window. Then he grabbed Ino and Sakura and then they all disappeared.

**_________________________________________________________________****_________________________________________________________________**

Gobi and Sai were facing off as Mona watched. Gobi had mines set all over the frozen lake. They set off every time Sai got near one. "Please Gobi I don't understand! Why are you doing this?!" The little girl yelled. Gobi didn't hear her as he threw more paper bombs at Sai.

Sai jumped down to the ground and quickly moved to the side as another mine was set off. 'I can't do anything with all these mines.' He thought. He then looked over to the shore and ran towards it; dodging more mines. 'Maybe there only set on the ice.' He landed on the shore and turned to look at Gobi. Sai then took out one of his scrolls and a paint brush.

He drew a snake on the scroll and made a few hand signs. Then the snake shot out of the scroll and charged for Gobi. Gobi made one hand sign and every mine on the lake was set off at the same time. Sai gasped and looked in Mona's direction. The gigantic fireball consumed her and Gobi. Or so he thought.

"Up here!"

Sai looked up. Gobi was up in the air holding Mona in his arms. He dropped down right next to Sai and threw a punch at him, but the emotionless man just grabbed his fist and threw Gobi out to the Lake. Gobi bit his lip and set Mona down. "Mona stay here."He growled before running towards Sai once more. Mona started to back up. She heard a big cracking noise.

"What….what was that?"

She turned around and a crack traveled towards her and went under her. She then turned around to follow it. It went around everywhere in a random pattern meeting with other cracking trails. "Umm Gobi-kun, Sai?" She asked. Their kunais clashed together, and they both looked at her. "I think the ice is gonna break." The girl then said. They both looked at their feet. Mona then looked at them with a worried look.

They all waited for something to happen but when nothing did Gobi and Sai went back to fighting. Mona looked down and started walking to the shore line very carefully. 'I hope it doesn't break and we all fall into the icy water.' She thought. Before she could take one more step Sai went flying past her; all the way to the other side of the lake. He hit a hill off the shores of the lake and was lost in the snow.

"SAI!" Mona called with a look of horror. Then she turned to face Gobi. "Gobi, why are you doing this? He was helping us!" She asked . Gobi looked at her.

"Mona he's a leaf villager." He pointed to the hill Sai hit. "He is an enemy!" He then yelled. She started to cry.

"I don't care! He was nice to me!"

Gobi was taken aback at her words and was about to say something but Sai walked back out into the battle field. They both looked over at Sai. Mona was happy to see he was ok, but Gobi wasn't. "Why you!"

Sai narrowed his eyes and took out another scroll. Gobi then started to charge when a gust of wind picked him up and shot him to the other side of the lake. Sai blinked in confusion. "What the?" Mona was scared now. There were bad things happening to both her friends.

"Yo Sai!"

Sai looked over to the right. Mona looked at the voice as well. Naruto, Sakura and Ino stood on the shoreline to the right. Sai looked at them in surprise. "Naruto?" He asked.

Naruto smiled. "That's my name don't wear it out." He said with a fist in the air. Sakura and Ino ran towards Sai as Naruto stayed put. He looked over to where Gobi was launched. He was nowhere in sight. He started walking over to Sai and them and noticed Mona. Naruto then got Sai's attention. "Who is that?" He asked. Sai looked over.

"That girl is called Mona."

"Mona? Is she a leaf villager?"

"No she's not." Sakura answered. They all looked at her.

"How do you know?"

Sakura looked at Naruto. "When I first met her, I asked if she was a leaf villager, and she asked me if she even looked like one." The pinkette told him. She looked at Mona. "And when I met Kanji, he said he was a rain villager."

It was Ino's turn to talk. "And the ninja that woke me up when I passed out said that a rain ninja he faced said that everyone who was attacking was from the rain village." Naruto raised an eyebrow and looked at Mona.

"So she's from the rain village too."

Everyone nodded.

"So she's an enemy!"

Sai noticed Naruto was about to attack and stopped him. "Naruto she's just an innocent little girl." He said to the blonde. Naruto beamed at him.

"Then why would she be here?!" Naruto asked. Sai took a few steps back to give it some thought. Gobi slowly emerged from the snow and walked back out to the battle field. He caught everyone's attention. "There he is!" Naruto yelled as he took his fighting stance. Gobi just looked at him.

"A new enemy?"

"Your damn right!" The blonde yelled back. Then he made a hand sign and grinned. "Kage bushin no jutzu!!" He yelled. A clone appeared and held out a hand as Naruto held out his. They started forming a rotation in the palm of their hands. Mona looked over as she saw the blue light forming from their hands.

"What is that?"

Gobi studied the jutzu. "I don't think I'll live if I get hit with that." He mumbled to himself. Then he took out a scroll and bit his thumb. He swiped his blood on the scroll and made a few hand signs. "SUMMON!" The scroll was lost in a cloud of smoke. Naruto noticed what he did and stayed back in caution.

The cloud of smoke drifted away revealing a giant hammer in Gobi's hands. Mona gasped to the sight. "GOBI THAT'S DANGEROUS! YOU CAN'T USE THAT!" She screamed at him. Gobi didn't listen. He just stared at Naruto and the giant blue chakra ball in him and his clone's hands.

"I'll destroy that hammer!" Naruto yelled before he and his clone took off running towards the man. Gobi gripped the hammer and ran towards the blonde. Sakura knew what that jutzu would do and took a few steps back. Ino and Sai took the hint and stepped back as well.

Gobi got close enough to Naruto to b able to swing the hammer full swing. He swung it and it flew towards them as the two blondes held out their hands. "OODAMA RASENGAN!" The Oodama Rasengan and hammer clashed forming a white dome in the middle of the frozen lake.

Mona screamed and fell over. She thought that Gobi was killed. Sakura, Ino and Sai covered their eyes. Then there was a large cracking noise. Sakura looked down. "Oh no!" Ino and Sai looked down after her. "INO, SAI ITS GONNA BREAK!"

Sai looked at Mona. He remembered how nice she was to him, regardless how strange he was. He ran over to her as the ice started to collapse. Sakura and Ino watched him run off. Ino ran out after him "Sai! What are you doing?!" She yelled. Sakura couldn't help but run after her.

"Ino! Leave him!"

The white dome faded away. Once it did the ice from under them shattered. They were all running or standing in midair. Sakura looked down as she started to fall. "It….it is hollow." She muttered. Then she glanced in Naruto's direction. He was just as surprised as she was, as he fell.

Sakura looked around as everyone was screaming. Sai held Mona tight as she closed her eyes and cried. Gobi hit the ground first, making a cloud of icy dirt fly towards Naruto as he hit the ground. When everyone hit they all rolled and took cover.

Sai went behind an ice pillar that still stood. Mona was still in his arms. She looked around from his grasp to see what was going on. 'What's going on? Why is the lake hollow?' She thought. Then she saw a giant rock behind Naruto and Gobi. 'IS THAT!' She shoved away from Sai, and ran in their direction.

Sakura saw her running towards them and thought she was going to attack. "Hey!" Sakura called as she stood up. Then she ran toward Mona. "Don't think you're going to attack little girl!" Mona stopped and looked at Sakura. She made a few hand signs and the ice below Sakura's feet winded up her leg and stopped her in her tracks. "The hell?" Sakura tried to break away from the ice, but not even her strength could break it. Mona looked way and ran for the giant rock again.

Naruto noticed her running towards him and he turned to face her. "Where do you think you're going?" He asked. She kept running and looked at Gobi.

"Gobi! I think that's the stone were looking for!" She pointed at the rock, and he turned his head to look at it.

When she said that Naruto realized that the stone WAS under the lakes surface. He turned to look at the stone as well. It had a special glow to it. It also had a light green color to it. 'That must be it.' He thought.

"NARUTO!"

Naruto turned to face the voice. The ice traveled up Sakura's leg, and was now surrounding her body. She only had 1 free arm and tried to punch it to break free. "Sakura-Chan!!" He ran over to her and tried to help her break free of the ice. It traveled up her body and consumed the other arm.

"SHIT! I can't move!"

Naruto started to panic and looked t Mona. "MONA! SET HER FREE!" He barked. Mona stopped in her tracks and looked over. He was in the brinks of tears. She couldn't look at him because it nearly made her start crying. She looked back and in her vision Naruto and Sakura weren't there anymore, but two other people. She started crying at the sight of the two people.

"Mom……….dad?"

"MONA!"

She blinked and Naruto and Sakura were back in her vision. She looked at Gobi who was trying to get her attention. "Gobi?" She asked.

"We need to destroy it, like Terra said."

She looked at the ground and stood there. The ice moved upward and was touching Sakura's chin. Ino was starting to panic along with Naruto. She stood up and was about to go help when she heard a voice from behind.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Ino was scared because she didn't recognize the voice. She slowly turned her head to face the person who had spoken to her. Terra stood next to a knocked out Sai. "Sai!" Terra gave her an evil smile.

"He's no longer with us."

Ino thought he was dead, and started to panic. "No, no, no, no, no!" She grabbed her head and fell to her knees.

Terra laughed as Ino cried. "He's not dead!" She said. She stopped laughing and smiled evilly. "But he will be if you try anything." She then said to her. She walked over to Naruto and Sakura. Naruto looked over to her and saw her rain headband around her arm. She looked at Sakura and shook her head. "Mona, Mona, Mona." The blonde said in disappointment.

Mona looked over and her face lit up. "Terra-senpai!" She yelled happily. Terra looked at Mona and smiled.

"Hello Mona, good job at finding the stone."She said. Then she beamed at Naruto as he took out a kunai. "Don't you dare young man, I'll kill you."

He was crying as the ice covered Sakura's mouth. He pointed at Mona. "Make her get rid of the Ice!" He demanded. Terra didn't move but looked at Mona again.

"No."

Naruto's eyes widened and more tears fell down his face. "YOU'RE KILLING HER!" He screamed. Terra looked at Sakura. She couldn't breathe anymore as the Ice covered her nose as well.

"Well that's just too bad." The blonde woman said. She looked at Mona and gestured her head to Naruto. Mona knew why she did and took out a kunai. She hesitated, but then disappeared. Naruto had no idea where she went but took out another kunai to prepare himself.

"Mmmm!"

"Huh?" Naruto turned around. Sakura was trying to yell from under the ice. She was looking to the right. He looked to the right and barely had enough time to dodge Mona's fist. "Crap!" He did a back flip and landed in front of Terra.

Terra swung a fist toward him since he was in the way. He wasn't paying attention and flew towards the giant rock. He looked up as he stopped inches away from it. He looked to the right as Gobi swung his hammer down at him. Naruto then had no choice but to jump up.

Naruto landed in between Terra and he rock, when an arm wrapped around his neck and held him down. He started to choke. Mona was holding him down, and squeezed harder by each passing second. Sakura couldn't stand watching as the ice covered one of her eyes. She tried to break free as the ice around her legs grew weak. She shook around in the ice making it chip off on the outside. The ice below her knees slowly started to crack as she shook even more. Finally a crack appeared in the ice on her face. "MMMM!"

Ino looked over as Sakura yelled from under the ice. "Sakura..." Ino stood up and ran over. She saw the giant crack in the ice next to her eye. "I'll help Sakura." The blonde then said. She reached over and started to pick at the crack. Ino eventually gave up on her hands and took out a kunai. Sakura looked at the kunai with wide eyes and then at Ino. She tried to shake her head but her head couldn't move. Ino gripped the kunai and she thrusted it into the ice. Sakura then closed her eyes thinking Ino was gonna pierce her skin on the other side.

"There!" Ino said in relief. Sakura's other eye was free. She then immediately started picking at another crack in the ice. "Hold on Sakura I'll get your mouth and nose free next." She jabbed the kunai in over and over again. "Just hold on, don't run out of breath yet."


	7. Chemical's Reaction

Mona still held Naruto back by the neck. He couldn't breathe. Terra took out the sword she had tied behind her and held it up to tap his chin. "I could kill you right now." She muttered as she looked at the stone, and then up at the sky above. "But you're so darn powerful, I could use you." She looked back down to him. "Can you destroy that rock for me?" She asked as she pointed at the rock with her sword. The rock was just as big as the Hokage's mansion. "Just so that the pieces are small enough for me to bring home to my father."

He looked at her with an evil yet fatigued look. "Never. That rock holds our water supply." He told her. She blinked and looked back up to the rock. How odd of a stone. To hold their water supply? How…odd.

"That's all it does? How boring." Mona muttered. She looked over her shoulder to see the rock. "I thought it did much more than that." She then said to her senpai.

Terra looked at Gobi. "Gobi, go touch it!" She commanded. Gobi nodded and set his hand on the rock. "Hmmm, so it doesn't kill." The blonde said as Naruto looked at her with a crazed look. "

ARE YOU CRAZY?!"

"What?"

"YOU WERE WILLING TO SACRAFICE HIS LIFE FOR A STUPID ROCK!" He yelled before pointing to Gobi. "WHAT IF IT '_DID_' KILL HIM?!" Mona flinched from his words; Gobi was like her best friend. She couldn't lose him…no matter what. It was his doing that she was alive. As Naruto struggled to break free from Mona's grip she looked over to Ino and Sakura. Ino had finally broken Sakura's head free from the ice, and the pinkette was panting deeply as Ino started working on her upper torso.

Mona couldn't help to see her Mother in the ice once more. She quickly turned away and started crying. On a mission before her mother had died…she was trapped in ice just like that. Naruto saw her tears from the corner of his eyes and used the moment to get away. He elbowed her in the gut and she let go without a fight. He jumped over Terra as she tried to grab him. He landed by Gobi and turned to catch Gobi's fist. He caught it, flipped Gobi over and threw him into an Ice pillar in the distance. Terra was angry now and looked at Mona. "Mona! Why are you just standing there?"She screamed as she pointed at Naruto. "Go get him!"

Mona looked up with tears running down her face. "Yes senpai." She muttered. The small shinobi made a few hand signs and held out her hand. A small string of water was absorbed from the ice and floated up below her hand. It took the shape of a long kunai, and immediately turned to Ice. She grabbed it and ran towards Naruto.

As Naruto grabbed Gobi's leg to block a kick he noticed Mona running his way. She held up the kunai and jumped towards him. Naruto couldn't react as Gobi threw a fist towards him. "Shit!" He grabbed the fist and jumped up. He was doing a handstand on Gobi's shoulders as Mona's ice kunai nearly hit him. He dropped down behind Gobi, turned around and kicked him in the back. Mona moved out of Gobi's way and charged for Naruto. She went to slash at him but disappeared to confuse him. "What? Where'd she go?" He asked as he looked around, and then he heard ice crack from behind him. He turned around as soon as he saw her swing her kunai at him. He barely had enough time to dodge it. He did a backbend, and then stood on his hands to jump up.

With her luck, right before he jumped up, she slit his arm. As he jumped upward in the air he felt a horrible sting in his arm. He landed by the rock and looked down. "WHAT?!" Ice was forming around the cut and moving up his arm. Mona looked at him as he tried desperately to get the ice from spreading. "STOP IT! STOP IT!" He yelled as he rubbed his arm; trying to get it to stop. There was a sound over to the right. It sounded like breaking glass.

Mona looked over to the sound. Sakura broke free and was rubbing her wrists. Mona's eyes widened. "How did she—"

"MONA!"

Mona looked at Terra. She was examining the rock. "Mona, don't just stand there!" Terra then screamed. The small kunoichi nodded.

She looked at Naruto once more. The ice had completely consumed his arm. He had run over to an Ice pillar and started smashing his arm against it. "STOP SPREADING!" He pleaded loudly. Mona started crying again. "No…why is this happening?" Her father was in his place as the ice spread over his face and chest. This may of kept them alive when she had done this to her parents…but it was still a scary thought.

"NARUTO!!"

Mona looked over at Sakura, she was crying as she ran towards the blonde. In Mona's eyes Sakura became her mother that was crying for Mona's dying father. They hadn't died the same way….but the image wouldn't leave her sight. Mona couldn't move as she watched Naruto suffocate.

"MONA!" Terra yelled. She was trying to get Mona to snap out of it. "MONA, FINISH HIM!" Mona grabbed her head and started crying uncontrollably. "MONA!" Terra yelled again. The small girl looked at her senapi.

"SHUT UP!" Mona screamed. Terra was taken aback. In all her years with the small girl, she had never yelled back like that. It was completely out of the girls nature.

"What did you just say?" The blonde woman asked in a growl. Mona stood up from kneeling down and held up two fingers. The ice suffocating Naruto turned into water and fell setting him free. Terra looked over to Naruto. Sakura hugged him, and kissed him on the cheek a few times. "Mona, what do you think you're doing?" She asked. Mona smiled as more tears fell down her face.

"Not listening to you for a change." She told her. Terra took a step back and growled. '_Now_' Mona was acting out of character. Mona '_never_' betrayed her like this. The girl was too loyal. She couldn't believe what was happening.

"Mona you're making a big mistake!" The blonde yelled as the girl held up her ice kunai. Mona was going to attack. For the first time she was going to attack her senpai other then training. She was excited. She knew almost everything Terra knew.

"No I'm not, you are." Mona muttered. Then she disappeared and reappeared behind Terra. She swung her kunai at her but Terra dodged it by doing a quick cartwheel to the side. Sakura stopped kissing Naruto as he tried to get up.

"You…"

They both looked over to the ice pillar next to them. Gobi was leaning on it. Naruto struggled to get up but fell again. "Don't try to fight me, I'm done." Gobi then said as he looked at Mona and Terra as they fought. Mona was punched in the stomach and crashed through an ice pillar. Gobi looked at Naruto and Sakura. "All I live for is making Mona happy." He told them. Naruto and Sakura looked at him in surprisment. "When she cries, I die a little inside." He then said. Sakura looked at Naruto; he was looking at Gobi with a concerned look. "I've been taking care of her since her mother and father died." Another explosion was sounded as Mona and Terra both hit each other at the same time and flew into the walls on the opposite sides of the empty lake.

"Gobi?" Sakura asked as she looked back at him. "Do you want us to help her? He slowly looked at Mona, as she emerged from the wall. Then he looked back to Sakura.

"Please."

Naruto nodded and used the pillar for support as he stood up. Sakura stood up after him and looked at Gobi. "Don't worry, we'll help." She told him with a smile. Naruto ran off towards Terra without any thought. Terra saw him coming and caught his fist. She grabbed his arm as he tried to pull away. She threw him up to the rock.

Once his feet touched the rock it went from green to bright red. "WHAT THE HELL!" Naruto yelped. He couldn't move. Sakura stopped and looked at the blonde. The rock wasn't the only thing that turned red. The necklace around his neck. It had turned bright red as well and was burning his chest. But his head hurt as well. He grabbed his head and fell to his knees.

"Naruto!"

Everyone looked at the rock confused of why it was red. Mona fell to her knees and she grabbed her wounded arm as she looked. "What's happening to the rock?" Ino muttered to herself. Then she looked at Sai as he woke up in her arms. Sai's eyes widened.

"Ino, what's going on?"

"I don't know."

Sakura tried to jump up next to him but when her feet touched the stone's surface, it shocked her with a red and green colored lightning. Mona gasped as Sakura fell, but Gobi quickly appeared and caught her. Everyone was surprised to see him perform such an action. Sakura opened her eyes as she heard Naruto's screaming. "NARUTO!" She called as she jumped out of Gobi's arms and looked up to him. Everyone gasped, as he slowly opened his eyes; revealing fiery red fox eyes.


	8. The End

Tears hit the rock and sizzled as if on a hot pan. "NARUTO!" Sakura called to him. She tried again and again to jump on the rock, but each time she was shocked by the red and green lightning. Terra was confused of why she tried so hard. She looked up to Naruto. He held his head because he was in horrible pain. His crimson red eyes leaked with tears, as he yelled in pain and agony. The rock seemed to glow darker red as time went by. Sakura was in horrible pain from the shock she took.

'Why is this happening?' She thought before running for the rock once more. This time the lightning shot for her before she could even touch it. "WHAT?!" It hadn't done that yet. She was shocked and blown away back to Gobi.

Mona stood up and wondered why the rock reacted to Naruto's touch and not Gobi's, but she didn't know Naruto was a Jinchuuriki and Gobi wasn't. And the fact that the necklace….was part of the reason. The rock finally calmed down after awhile, and Naruto stopped screaming. Everyone looked up to see if he was ok. Sakura's face was covered in tears as she desperately needed to know if he was ok. "NARUTO?!" She called. His shoulder twitched and everyone paid close attention. He slowly started to fall, bringing panic to Sakura's face. "NO!"

She ran over to catch him. She was almost too late. His breathing was very slow. She flipped him over to get a good look and saw that his skin was red. She gasped and quickly set him down to heal him. 'It's just like that day…' She thought as she reflected back to the day when Naruto became the 4th tail and fought Orochimaru. His skin was red just like this when the battle was over. His breathing was just the same as well. 'But….why? He hadn't changed….'

Mona looked at Terra. She noticed that Terra was about to attack. 'No…I won't let her!' She then thought with a growl. She gripped her ice kunai and ran for it. Terra glanced over as Mona charged for her. She made a few hand signs and spiked pillars shot out of the ground, but the little girl swiftly dodged each one and swung her kunai at her. Terra jumped up and landed on Mona's shoulders. Mona nearly fell over when Terra jumped off. She landed next to Naruto's side. Terra looked at the blonde then the rock.

'What was up with his eyes back there?'

Something grabbed her ankles. "What?" She looked at Mona. She was still standing over where Terra once stood. "If it's not Mona…." She trailed off as she looked down at her ankle. Her eyes widened to the sight of Naruto holding her ankle.

But his eyes were still closed. She looked at Sakura. She was just as surprised as she was. "Naruto?" Sakura asked. She stopped healing him; even when his skin was still red. "Naruto are you ok?" He slowly opened his eyes to her words, and to her relief they were blue.

"I'll kill you…" The blonde said. Sakura looked up as Terra tried to pull her leg away from his grasp. As this happened, Mona ran over and slashed her kunai at her while she had the chance. As Terra jumped out of the way she dragged Naruto along with her; pretty much helping him to his feet.

Mona's kunai still got her arm as Naruto dragged her down. "Shit!" She held her wound and stepped back. Her arm started forming an ice clot that started to spread. Naruto looked at Mona. "Mona…" He mumbled with tiered eyes. She looked over to him; ready to listen. He knelt down. "Get on my shoulders."

"Say what?"

He looked at her. "I want you to absorb the water from the floor like you did with that kunai there." He pointed to her kunai. Then he held out his hand. "I'm going to make a Rasengan and I wa-" She interrupted him by jumping on to his shoulders.

"I know what you mean." She yelled happily with a large smile. She then looked down to him and gave him a thumbs up. "I'm all set and ready to go." She then told him. He nodded and stood up. After a moment, he glanced over to the other blonde besides Terra.

"INO!"

Ino jumped and looked over his way. "Get over here please." He then muttered. She nodded and ran over as he waited patiently with a lazy smile.

"What is it?" She asked. He leaned over and whispered something into her ears. She blinked and nodded. "Okay, gotcha." She took a fighting stance and made a few hand signs. "MIND TRANFER JUTSU!" She yelled bringing her hands out to form a triangle shape.

Terra blinked in confusion. "What does th-" She was interrupted whenIno succeeded. Sakura stood up and caught Ino's limp body.

"Naruto if you hit her Ino will die too."

"Not if she releases it first."

She looked at him then Ino's body. "Oh….I get it." She then muttered. He was going to have Ino release the jutsu before he hit Terra. This would make it so that when Terra came to; she wouldn't have time to get away. He only had one shot; especially when he was this fatigued.

"I gotta make this last move powerful enough to kill her." He said as he looked up to Mona. "She is the leader right? Once she's gone you'll all leave?" He asked. Mona looked down at him.

"Yup!"

"Alright then."

"HEY! ARE YOU COMING YET?!"

Naruto and Mona looked up. Terra was swinging her arms around. "Come on hurry!" Ino yelled from within the other blonde. "I'm almost out of chakra! Hurry it up!" She then said as she set her hands down.

Naruto chuckled. "I'm coming Ino."He told her. He made a clone and formed a Rasengan in his right hand. Then he started running towards her. "Mona, now!" He yelled. Mona made a few hand signs and thin strings of water came off the floor and surrounded the Rasengan as if it was a tornado sucking it in. She then held her hands close to the Rasengan as he held it up. She started concentrating the water around it and turned it into ice. Now the Rasengan was spinning along with spinning blades of ice on the outside. He looked at it very proud like and then looked at Terra. "Alright Ino get outta there!"

She nodded and made the release sign. Sakura helped Ino up as she came back and they both ran behind an Ice pillar. Terra shook her head and looked around the ground. "What….what happened?" She asked. Then she looked up to see Naruto and Mona running her way.

She gasped and tried to take a step back but she ran into the stone. She looked behind her and didn't think of moving to the side. "No…" She looked back forward and the last words she heard were….

"Ice Blade Rasengan!"

**

* * *

**

The explosion was enormous. Tsunade was standing at her window and saw it. Her eyes widened as giant pillars of ice shot out of the lake and rose 100s of feet high each. Both ANBU at her door ran over and saw the pillars of ice. "Lady Tsunade, what was that?" They both asked.

"He combined with another element." Tsunade answered with a smile. "It looks just as powerful as the Rasenshuriken but in a different kind of way. He doesn't have an ice or water affinity so he may have worked with another person" Both ANBU turned around to face the door as a figure came through it. Tsunade smiled and turned around to face the person as well. "Welcome home."

**

* * *

**

Sakura, Ino and Sai coughed as the destruction cleared out. The pinkette looked out to see if Naruto and Mona were still standing. Her eyes widened as the dust cleared away. The stone and Terra were….gone. But Mona stood next to Naruto, holding his hand. Sakura stood up with a smile and ran over to him. "NARUTO!" She called happily. He turned around and let go of Mona's hand as Sakura tackled him down. She was hugging him with her brute strength.

"Sakura…"

"What?"

"Mind doing me a favor…."

"What?"

"Get off of me, and let me breathe."

"OH!" She jumped off of him. Mona laughed as Naruto was smothered by more kisses to the cheeks. "You're like a mother to him, hehehe." Mona said as she giggled. Ino and Sai then ran over.

"Naruto are you ok?" Ino and Sai both asked together. He tried to nod but Sakura had possession of his head as she kissed him. Then they all started to laugh together. Along with Mona.

Light shown through the dust above revealing them to the outside world. Mona looked up and gasped as she realized something. "Where is Gobi?!" She yelped a she looked around. They all started looking around as well. Mona held up her hands and cupped her mouth. "GOBI-KUN, ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?!" She called.

Sai looked over to one of the pillars that Naruto and Mona created. There was someone leaning on it on the other side. "Ummm." Sai pointed to the pillar. "I think he's over there." Everyone but Mona looked at him. She was already on her way to the pillar in a hurry.

None of them could see Gobi, but they did see Mona yell his name and tackle the person there. Sakura giggled at the sight and looked at Naruto. His skin was still red, but in different spots.  
"Naruto!" "What!" He yelled as he looked at her immediately after she yelled his name. "I need to finish healing you!" She helped him stand and walk over to a pillar. But as he sat back down he nearly feel. She quickly grabbed his belt loop and put her hand behind him to catch him.

"Thanks" Naruto muttered with a nervous smile. She nodded and set him down slowly. When he finally sat down and leaned against the pillar, Sakura noticed something different. She looked down to his belt loop.

"Naruto, where's the keychain that Cheyenne gave to you?" She asked as she pointed to his belt loop. He looked at her and then her hand. And then after a moment he closed his eyes with a smile. Cheyenne had given him a key chain back when she was alive.

"Gone."

She blinked in confusion. "Well I know it's gone, it's not there." She then told him as she pulled on the loop. He looked at her again.

"No I mean, I got rid of it."

Sakura just looked at him. "Rid of it?" She asked. Why would he get rid of it? Cheyenne may have tried to kill him, but he still missed her and she did have his heart once.

He smiled and nodded. "I found myself thinking about her more than you." He told her. He then took her hand and held it. "So I got rid of it, and my mind has been off of her since." The blonde smiled with his eyes still closed and she couldn't help but smile back; even if he couldn't see it.

"Really?"

"Yeah I thought to myself, thinking about my dead and evil ex-girlfriend more than my '_alive_' beautiful girlfriend, can't be good for me." He chuckled as she smiled to the word beautiful.

"I'm beautiful?"

He opened his eyes and looked at her. "Well of course. You're the most beautiful girl I've met." He told her. She started healing him as he went on. "When I was with Cheyenne, I still thought you were prettier than her."

She took her eyes off her healing hands and looked at his smiling face. "Really, even when you were dating Cheyenne?" She asked happily. He nodded and she went back to healing him. "Wow….thanks Naruto." She then muttered. She then smiled at him with closed eyes. "You're the best boyfriend a girl could ever have you know that?" He nodded with a big smile and received a small peck on the lips before looking over to Mona and Gobi.

She was trying to help him stand up. But the fact that he was ten times her size didn't help her one bit. "Come on Gobi, stand up." Mona muttered as she pulled on his shirt. He stumbled to his feet after a while. Naruto started laughing as Mona lost her balance and fell.

"Mona! Come here!" Naruto then called. The small girl rubbed her rubbed her knee and looked at the blonde, who had just called for her. She nodded and stood up before running over. She held out her hand as if she was pretending to be an airplane. Naruto's eyes followed her the whole way over with a smile plastered on his face. She knelt down before him and smiled in a chibi like way. Sakura looked at Mona then Naruto, curious of what he wanted to say. "Mona, how old are you?" He asked. He had been wondering the whole time. She opened her eyes and opened her mouth; making everyone lean in closer in curiosity.

"I'm 10 years old! I'll be 11 in a month!"

Everyone's jaws hit the ground. "WHAT!" She laughed and danced away. Gobi shook his head as she ran over and started dancing with him. Everyone's jaws were still on the ground. Naruto finally shook his head and came back to earth. "How is she so strong, at that age?!" He yelped. She wasn't even at Gennin level.

Sakura came back next. "Who knows?" She then muttered as she shook her head. Ino and Sai came back and fell to their knees. "

Holy crap and she almost killed you two!" Ino yelped as she looked at the blonde. Naruto looked at them after this and nodded.

"I KNOW!"

` Mona stopped dancing and looked over to where the stone once stood. "So what happened? Did they like get vaporized or something?" She asked; looking over her shoulder. They all looked at Mona then to where she pointed.

"I don't know but Terra and the rock are gone, so it's not our problem anymore."

Sakura looked at the empty spot and realized something. She quickly looked at Naruto. "Naruto what about the water?!" She asked in a panic. He looked at her then pointed to one of the pillars Mona and he created.

"I'm sure when all those ice pillar things melt; all the water will be back."

"Oh." She looked around to see the spiky pillars rising hundreds of feet above her head. She looked back down. "Your right." She then said. She started to laugh but a group of ninja landed near Mona and Gobi. They all ran to them and held them down. Naruto stood up in shock as soon as this happened.

"HEY! LET THEM GO!" He ordered. Mona started screaming as she had no idea what was going on. Her eyes were closed when she was attacked and still were. "What's going on? Why are you doing this! Let them go!" The blonde yelled. The ninja holding Mona down looked at Naruto.

"But these are the intruders."

He ran over and knelt down. "Mona, stay calm ok?" He told her. She nodded and he stood back up. "Please, these two aren't bad." He pointed to Mona. "She helped me take down the leader, and…" He pointed at Gobi. "And well….he didn't really do anything but he cares about her a lot." He pointed at Mona again.

"JUST LET THEM GO!"

Naruto looked over to a familiar voice. "Tsunade-Baa-Chan?" He asked in a slight confusion as Tsunade walked over from behind a few ANBU. The ninja holding Mona down turned his head to face her.

"But lady Tsunade?"

"Did I stutter?" She asked in annoyance. Both ninja let go of Mona and Gobi and retreated back to the others right after. Mona then ran over to Gobi and hid behind him as soon as they let go. Naruto looked at Tsunade.

He was just about to say something when something fell from the sky and landed on him. Everyone just cocked their heads in confusion as the icy dust cleared away. "NARUTO HOW DARE YOU LEAVE ME BEHIND!"

Naruto poked his head out from the under the giant toad on top of him. "Jiraiya?" He asked. The person on top of the toad jumped off and knelt down before him.

"You're damn right it's me." The old man muttered with a mad glare. Naruto pulled his arm out from under the toad and rubbed his eyes. Then when he re-opened them he smiled.

"Took you long enough!"

The blonde barked. Jiraiya raised an eyebrow. What did he mean by that? The boy was crazy. "You were the one that left me." The perverted ninja muttered as he pointed.

Naruto coughed under the pressure of the toad. "Well…..it's…not my fault." He muttered. Then he pointed at Sakura with his free arm. "She summoned me." He told his sensei.

Jiraiya stood up and looked at Sakura. He pointed to her and started walking towards her. "So it was you!" He growled. She ran behind Ino and Sai in horror. She could just hit him out of the ball park but she was too tired. Jiraiya then started laughing.

"ERO-SENNIN! GET THIS DAMN TOAD OFF ME!"

Mona was already trying to push the toad off of Naruto. "Its sooo heavy!" She muttered as she pushed it. And in a split second the frog disappeared with a poof and Mona fell on top of Naruto. "Ouch…." Naruto muttered. "Sorry Naruto-kun." She jumped off him and tried to help him up, but same story as Gobi; he was too big for her.

Sakura shook her head and walked over to help Mona out. "Anyway…Mona was your name right?" Tsunade asked from beside them. Mona looked over to the Hokage and smiling.

"Oh yes. I am." She held out her hand and smiled. "Nice to meet you! I am Mona of the rain." The 10 year old said. Tsunade took her hand and shook it. "I may be a rain villager but my specialty is ice and water."

"Well Mona of the rain, do you have a home?" Tsunade asked as she knelt down to meet Mona's dark red eyes. The small girl took her hand away and shook her head.

"I did, but when my parents died my home was burnt down, and I ran away with Gobi-kun." She told her. "Soon after that, we met Terra and joined up with her." She then said. Tsunade raised her brow at this.

"Terra? Who is that?"

Naruto stumbled over. "She was the leader that planned all this." He told her with a slight smile. Tsunade nodded in understanding and looked back over to talk to Mona again. She liked the girl. Even if she was the enemy. But from the looks of it, she wasn't much of an enemy anymore.

"How would you like to be Mona of the leaf?"

Mona's face lit up. "REALLY?!" She asked. Tsunade nodded. "OH CAN GOBI BE A LEAF VILLAGER TOO?!" She asked as she pointed at Gobi and jumped around. Tsunade looked at Gobi and smiled before nodded.

"Why not?" She said with the smile still plastered on her face. "He can take care of you, like he always has." Mona jumped around yelling in pure joyness.

"YAY! GOBI-KUN AND I GET TO LIVE IN THE LEAF VILLAGE!"

Gobi smiled and braced himself as she jumped onto his shoulders. "Aren't you happy Gobi?"She asked as she bent over to look at him. The man nodded. "Then it's settled, we are now Mona and Gobi of the hidden leaf!" Mona said with a fist in the air.

Sakura giggled and walked over to Naruto as Mona made Gobi jump up out of the hole; like he was her horse. "Should we ask Tsunade about the stone's behavior?" She asked in wonder. "I mean…it reacted to your necklace and made you start going into your demon state."

Naruto shrugged. "It's gone now," He muttered as he looked at her. "I don't think it's a big deal anymore." With that said she grabbed hold of his arm and set her head on his shoulder. Everything was going back to normal and she was happy.

"Naruto lets go home." She muttered. The blonde nodded and picked her up and held her in his arms, as if they just got married. "We have a big day tomorrow." She then said as she looked up into his eyes. He nodded with a smile and jumped out of the lake.

**

* * *

**

The next morning, laughter and joy was in the air. Almost as if the war with the rain ninja never happened. People spent part of the day rebuilding their homes and spent the rest of it to spend time with family. Sakura was having a get together at her house, since hers was the least damaged out of all her friends. She lit some candles to make the living room smell nice, as the kitchen smelt of delicious foods, perfect for a feast.

Miss Haruno discovered many new recipes in a cookbook and decided to try them out. "Sakura set up the table for later tonight!" She called from the kitchen. Sakura responded with a 'Yes mother!' and ran over to her table to quickly started setting it. She was dressed real nice and was careful not to spill the opened champagne on her clothes. As she set the opened bottle down there was a knock on the door. Almost spilling the champagne she quickly made her way to the door.

"Glad you could make it Ino!" Sakura said as she opened the door. Ino laughed at the sad Sai. "Haha, It's nice to see you too Sai." Sakura laughed as well and said this to Sai. She stopped him before he could enter. "Hold on…..are you showing emotion?" She asked in slight surprise. He showed emotion every once in awhile, but Sadness was a new one. He barely smiled and nodded.

"Wow…I'm so proud of you" Sakura said with a smile. Sai smiled again and looked at Ino as she started waving her hand in front of her face. She was doing this as she spoke to the pinkette.

"I know, it's really weird." She told her friend. She looked at him then back to Sakura. "He's been doing it a lot lately." She told her. Sakura just giggled to the comment and finally let them in.

"Just make yourself at home, and Sai!" Sakura stopped Sai before he fully entered the living room. He jumped as he was unprepared for her sudden yelp. Then he slowly looked over his shoulder to look at her. She gave him an evil look and pointed to him. "Don't touch anything!"

He nodded in fear, as he knew she would pummel him into a pulp. He always had a knack of touching her things when he and Naruto waited for her to go on a mission. Almost every time, he would break something on complete accident. Another Knock to the door was sounded, and Sakura never took a step away from the door. She opened it to see Mona and Gobi.

"HI SAKURA-SAN!"

"Hello Mona, Gobi, you may come in."

Mona jumped in and ran to the kitchen; she was drawn by the powerful smell. Sakura shook her head and giggled. She was just about to turn around to shut the door when a small gift was held up in front of her. "What….Oh…Gobi?" She started but he shook his head and looked at the kitchen.

"It's from Mona," He told her. "She asked me to carry it because she got tired." He then said as he shook his head. "She spent almost all night making it." He then told her. She just looked at it and smiled; eventually she took it and shut the door.

As she walked over to the coffee table and set the gift down Mona walked out of the kitchen and noticed her. She immediately ran over to her side. "Sakura-san you should open it." She said with a huge chibi like smile. Sakura looked at her. Mona's new leaf headband almost gave her a whole new identity. It was in the same way Sakura wore it. But she wasn't wearing hers at the moment. Mona was only wearing because she was so happy she got it that she didn't want to take it off.

Mona noticed she was looking at her new headband and she reached up to play with it. "You like it? Its shinier then my old rain headband!" She told her. Sakura laughed with a nod and Mona soon joined in. The way Mona played with it reminded her of how Naruto would play with is when he was little.

Soon after a few seconds of laughing Mona tapped the box. "Open it, I made it for you, consider it an apology for almost killing you with that ice tech." She said. She then closed her eyes as she gave Sakura another chibi like smile, before she skipped off to go sit next to Gobi.

Sakura smiled and looked down to the gift. She reached her hand over it to start to open it when there was another knock at the door. "I'LL GET IT!" Mona yelped as she jumped from her seat and ran to the door before Sakura could take one step.

Since Mona got the door for her Sakura went back to opening the gift. She tore the paper off a small box and looked puzzled. She wondered what it could be. Before opening the box she held it up close and shook it next to her ear. When she heard nothing she shrugged and moved on. When she finally got the box open she looked inside to see what it was. Her eyes widened as she picked up a beautiful bracelet.

It had two different color beads; clear and Icy blue. Mona obviously didn't know her favorite color was pink but it was still beautiful. The beads were simple and round. They went in a pattern from clear to blue. Eventually the pattern met in the middle; witch had an Icy blue heart crystal. Sakura loved it no matter the color. She put it on and looked at Mona. She was talking to Shikamaru; who was looking at her as if he wished she would stop talking.

She chuckled and walked over. Mona kept talking nonstop as Sakura knelt down beside her. Mona didn't even notice her until Shikamaru pointed in her direction. With a sigh of relief, Shikamaru walked away as Mona turned her attention to Sakura. "What's up Sakura-san?"

"Thank you for the bracelet. It's beautiful."

"Your welcome. I worked on it all night." Mona said as she smiled at her, hoping she would smile back. Sakura eventually did and there was another knock at the door. Sakura's face lit up as she wondered if it could be Naruto, since he hasn't arrived yet.

She ran over to the door and pampered herself by pushing her hair up slightly and running a finger over her eyes brows. She then took a deep breath and opened the door. "Hello Naru-" She stopped at the sight. Konahamaru stood in the doorway instead of the tall blonde she was hoping for.

"Is there a problem with me being here?"

Sakura started waving her hands around nervously and gestured for him to enter. "No! No, I just thought you were Naruto." She then told him. He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms as he walked inside. She didn't remember inviting him, but he '_was_' a friend so it didn't matter much. She was nervous now, so nervous she forgot to shut the door as she stood there wondering. Was he still sleeping? Was he ok? Where is he? Why is he not here ye-

"Yo!"

She snapped out of her thoughts and spun around towards the voice. "Naruto!" She said happily as she ran towards her boyfriend standing in the doorway. She tackled him and hugged him with her monstrous strength.

"Let………me…………..breath."

"I don't want to."

"Please…"

She jumped off of him with a sigh of defeat and grabbed his arm to drag him inside. But once he was inside he was attacked by Mona's hug. "Hello Naruto-kun!" She greeted with a chibi like smile. He laughed as he returned the hug.

"Hello Mona." He greeted back. She quickly jumped off of him as Sakura's mother walked out of the kitchen. She was almost done with dinner and they knew it.

"Alright every ones here, we can start." Mrs. Haruno said. She turned on a small radio and the room was filled with soft Christmas music. Sakura smiled and looked at Naruto. He was talking to Kiba, about something funny because they both started laughing.

After awhile the music got a little more upbeat, and Sakura thought that it was the perfect time to go dance with him, but Mona beat her to him. "Come on dance with me Naruto-kun!" The 10 year old said as she dragged him away from the crowd. Sakura laughed as they both spun around in the empty part of the room; both of them were laughing as well.

Naruto looked at Mona's smiling face as they spun around. She was so young and so small, he almost felt as if he was dancing with his own daughter. Eventually she let go of his hand still spinning and made her way over to Gobi, leaving a vary dizzy Naruto. After saying something to Gobi she jumped in front of Konohamaru and started talking to him; completely startling him. Naruto was still pretty dizzy.

After his head came back down to earth a glass of champagne was offered to him. Without looking he took it and fell to the ground trying really hard not to spill it. "Are you ok?" He looked up to see Sakura with her own glass.

"Oh yeah I'm fine, just needed to sit down somewhere." He muttered as he looked around. He was still in the middle of the empty space. She giggled and sat down on the floor next to him. "Everyone is having a good time." She nodded in agreement as he spoke. He took a drink of his champagne and looked at her.

"Are you?"

"Well it just started, let's wait and see."

She adjusted herself to face him and grabbed the bottom of his chin to bring him closer. He smiled as her lips met his cheek. She then set her head down on his shoulder and closed her eyes. She got to spend Christmas with him after all. And she was happy.

"Merry Christmas Naruto-kun."

"Merry Christmas Sakura-chan."

END

* * *

**To be continued...{Next Sequal--To Create Gods}**


End file.
